Two spies are better than one
by Daichilover
Summary: Kagome and Inuyasha have always hated each other since they both became top agents. Imagine their surprise when they're thrown together on a mission that could potentially determine the world's future. Will they be able to work together or will they fail?
1. The assignment

**A/N: Hello my fellow readers! This is the first chapter of my new story "Two spies are better than one." It was on my poll and it came in first place. Please read and review!**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Inuyasha. If I did, would I even be typing this?**

**Chapter 1: The assignment**

It was a quiet, normal day at S.S headquarters. Everyone was out on assignments, others were training in the gym and courtyard. Nothing out of the usual.

"Inuyasha, what the hell are you doing?"

Yep, nothing out of the usual.

In the courtyard's maze were Inuyasha and Kagome, who had the unfortunate luck to have the same practice time. During practice, all spies were given a buddy, as they rarely did assignments by themselves. It didn't help that Kagome and Inuyasha always tried to outdo the other; it was a constant competition to be the best and destroy the other.

"What are you talking about, wench?" Inuyasha scowled at the raven haired girl who was currently on the other side of the little space they had. All he had done was punch a hole in the garden's maze. The quicker the better, right?

Kagome rolled her eyes. "The whole point of this practice is to _figure the maze out! _Or is your brain so out of use that it can't function?" She asked, crossing her arms and glaring at Inuyasha annoyingly. She couldn't believe her rotten luck. She _just _had to get Inuyasha today. Why oh ,why couldn't she have gotten Sango?

"Keh, I can just punch my way through this damn thing! I ain't gonna waste time when I don't have to!" Inuyasha glared back, readying himself for another punch at the maze's green wall.

"You're a brute fool," Kagome sighed. "Watch me get there before you do!" She ran off and disappeared around the corner.

"I'll be there to see you lose!" Inuyasha shouted. He was sure he was going to win this bet, hands down. He'd be there in no time. He punched and punched his way through until he finally gave up. He scratched his head as he looked around him. Where the hell was that center? He shrugged. It didn't matter because if he couldn't find it, there was no way in hell that Kagome found it.

So when he finally did get there, he was more than surprised to see Kagome calmly waiting at the fountain. His jaw dropped.

"What the hell?"

Kagome laughed. "I told you it was all a matter of thinking." She stood up and began to walk the way she had come in. She glanced at Inuyasha from the corner of her eye. "I think you better walk behind me or you might get lost, puppy." She took a jab at Inuyasha's dog demon heritage.

He shrugged it off. "Keh! I don't need to follow you! And it don't matter whether I'm smarter than my opponent. I've got my fists to deal with that."

Kagome giggled in a very you're-such-an-idiot way. "Maybe not even that! You're ego is so big, it could probably crush them!"

"Well, being smart ain't gonna save nobody! Besides, you're just jealous."

Kagome narrowed her eyes and came closer to Inuyasha. She jabbed a finger at him. "Why would I be jealous of a _half_-demon? You're the one jealous of me"

Inuyasha scoffed at her. "Was that supposed to hurt?" He started to in front of her. "Besides, being half-demon is much better than being a weak human."

Kagome rolled her eyes, the statement rolling off of her. She was used to Inuyasha's comments on her being human, but she strangely felt hurt this time. Crossing her arms, she brushed past Inuyasha.

"I don't care what you think about me, but since you are my assigned partner, I suggest to listen to my advice and follow me, unless you want to punch your way through all the walls."

Inuyasha was about to open his mouth, until he caught sight of Kagome's face. Maybe his comment had hurt her feelings.

_Yeah, right. That wench has no feelings._

But even if he did think that, he walked behind her anyway and without saying another word.

* * *

Kagome was surprised that Inuyasha had been able to remain quiet through the entire trek back to the start of the maze. She also felt bad about insulting him about his half demon heritage, since she knew how hard it was to be scorned for just existing.

_A boulder has more feelings than this Inuhanyou. It wouldn't even be worth the apology. _

She nodded to herself. Yeah, she didn't need to apologize if he hadn't. Suddenly, the headquarters sirens started to blare loudly. Kagome and Inuyasha glanced at each other and began to run to the building in their view.

Sango and Miroku came out to meet them. "Kagome, you won't believe what's happened! They stole the chip!"

Inuyasha frowned. "Chip? What chip?"

Kagome frowned. "You know, you can't really be that ignorant." I said, frowning. "The Shikon chip? The most powerful artificial intelligence and the most dangerous thing to mankind in the world? Does that ring a bell?"

"Um, maybe?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Unbelievable." She turned to Sango, who was noticeably in her usual attack attire. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and her Hiraikoutsu was strung on her back. Like Inuyasha and Miroku, Sango was in the special forces of the S.S. Kagome was only in the Special intelligence unit.

"Dear Sango, would you mind hurrying up with the details? We don't have all day." Miroku complained, a hand deftly wandering to Sango's backside. Sango caught him and with a swift kick, he fell over to the side.

"As I was saying," Sango continued with a strained smile. "The chip was stolen right before we met up with you and the Five want to see the both of you."

"The Five? They want to see us?" Inuyasha's surprise mirrored Kagome's.

"Well, not exactly." Sango looked confused. " Just follow us, ok?"

Kagome and Inuyasha glanced at each other and began to walk behind Sango and a now limping Miroku. They entered the building and Kagome finally realized the extent of the damage of the place. It was hard to believe this had only occurred in a couple of minutes. Some of the walls were damaged and others were completely destroyed. Kagome shook her head.

"Sango, didn't they catch who stole the chip it was on tape?"

Sango shook her head. "Nope. Whoever did it hacked in our main computer system and messed up the codes for surveillance. None of the cameras outside of these few halls were affected, only the ones near the vault where the chip was kept." She pointed to the three halls.

"Then we're dealing with some kind of master mind, right?" Kagome glanced at the cameras and jumped over the debris on the floor. Inuyasha laughed.

"That's what you think. They guy obviously was really strong. Can't you see all the broken walls?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Puh-lease. His goons must have done this. Anyone who can hack into a complicated super computer system like ours wouldn't need to be buff."

Sango stopped as they made it to the door and threw a quick glare to Inuyasha and Kagome. "Stop bickering you two!" She shook her head at them as she slid her identification card into the slot. "I swear, this is constantly going on! If you guys don't get together, you won't be top agents for long."

The door clicked open before either Kagome or Inuyasha could respond to Sango's remark and opened to a dark, and soundless room. Kagome and Inuyasha glanced at each other as they walked inside.

The door closed after them and for a moment they were engulfed in darkness, until a spotlight appeared on both of them and the front of the room had been barely illuminated. The only indication given that The Five were there was their silhouettes.

"Kagome, Inuyasha you have been called for a matter of the utmost emergency." A man's voice boomed. Kagome and Inuyasha nodded as he continued. "As you have been told, the Shikon chip has been stolen. We need out top agents to go after the chip, discover who took it and why they did."

Then, a softer women's voice spoke. "We didn't know who to send-"

Inuyasha proudly stepped up, the light slightly unfocused as it began to follow him. "I would be glad to do it! Only my skills are needed by the looks outside."

"Actually-"

Kagome started to laugh. "I think you've taken to many hits to the head. Everyone knows only a mind of intelligence was behind all of this, and I think that's _my_ area of expertise."

"Well-"

Inuyasha turned to fully face Kagome. "I'm going to take this mission."

Kagome returned his glare with full force. "I don't think so."

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

Inuyasha came started to walk over to where Kagome was standing. "Am-"

"Silence!" Another, more deadly and lethal voice interrupted their argument. "Are you not spied of the S.S? Stop acting like five year olds and listen to your superiors!"

Kagome hung her head in embarrassment. In her mind, it was all Inuyasha's fault. If he had kept his mouth shut, then she wouldn't have responded.

Inuyasha scowled and returned to his original spot. He crossed his arms and decided to not look at Kagome, and instead stared into the darkness of the room.

"As I was saying," the woman began again, "We were at conflict on who to send so we decided to give you _both_ the assignment."

Kagome's and Inuyasha's heads snapped up at the same time. "What?" Kagome was the first to respond. "I can't work with him! I'll be dead in a day's time!"

Inuyasha scowled even more. "Keh, if I work with you I'll be dead in half a day's time."

"Why I oughtta-"

The first man's voice interrupted them. "Please, if you can't accept this mission, we'll just give it to someone else who actually worthy of being called top spies."

When there was no response from either of the operatives, the man continued. "You will work together and I don't want to hear any complaints. The details of your assignment will be sent to you tonight. You start tomorrow. You're dismissed."

Inuyasha and Kagome walked out, glaring at each other as if they were never going to stop. The man sighed and the woman who had spoken earlier laid a hand on his shoulder. "Do you think they'll work their issues out?"

The man shrugged. "They better, if they don't want to end up dieing."

The woman sighed, her sadness evident. "I hope they do."

* * *

Kagome sighed as she lazily laid on her bed, slowly closing her eyes. She couldn't believe that she had been given such an important assignment and with Inuyasha, no less. She sat up slowly and looked outside from the window of her dorm. She stood and placed a hand on it, the cold glass feeling refreshing against her sweaty palm.

She sighed again. Maybe she was being a little to mean to Inuyasha and she was definitely acting like a kid whenever it came to insulting him. Why did she react to him like that? Maybe it had been the years of built up habit.

She remembered the first day she came here. She had just turned fifteen and had been recruited to the special intelligence forces by the S.S. The first person she had seen was Inuyasha, who incidentally had been training at the time. She didn't remember exactly what she had said or what Inuyasha had responded with but she knew it had ended with them on bad terms.

_And now here we are, still fighting as if we were still teenagers._ She glanced up as she heard a knock on her door. She carefully made her way through the mess of papers on the floor and opened the door.

"Yes?"

The messenger boy, whose name was Hojo, blushed and stuck out his hand. "Th-this is the information for that m-mission of y-yours!"

Kagome could see the anxiety the boy had and took the paper from him with a smile. "Thank you." She then quickly closed the door and unrolled the piece of paper.

_**Operation: RTC, (Retrieve the chip)**_

_**Details: The Shikon chip is a very powerful object and can be used for many evil things like mind control, world domination, and impair technology, etc. The use of any of these options would wreak havoc, therefore it is imperative for you to retrieve the chip.**_

_**We hope you have a safe journey.**_

_**-The Five**_

"Way to be vague . . ."

Kagome rolled her eyes but carefully folded the piece of paper and threw it into her the suitcase she was taking. She was traveling light and hoped that Inuyasha would too. She grabbed her teddy and sat down on her bed again.

"Well, teddy, I guess I'm going to have to save the world."

* * *

Inuyasha practiced his hits on the punch bag in the gym, sweat trickling down his brow from the effort he was putting in. Miroku was holding the punching bag, and it looked like he'd collapse with the force of one Inuyasha's punches.

"I don't get it!" Inuyasha huffed, punching the bag a little to hard. "Why do I have to work with her? We freakin' hate each other." He paused and glanced at Miroku, who looked as blue as the sky over their heads. "Miroku?"

Miroku grunted and composed himself before responding. "Maybe that's the point of your mission. Maybe the Five want you and Kagome to stop fighting and work together." He then gave Inuyasha an knowing look. "Trust me, on such an important mission, I think you'll want to."

Inuyasha shrugged and began to unravel the bandages on his hand. "I guess you have a point." He tossed the bandages in the trash can and grabbed his towel and water bottle. Miroku walked in step with him until they reached Inuyasha's bedroom door.

Miroku glanced at Inuyasha, confusion written on his face. "How _did _you and Kagome start hating each other?"

Inuyasha hesitated in opening the door. "I don't think that's really your business." He turned the knob completely and stepped inside his room and slammed the door shut. Inuyasha exhaled loudly.

He didn't really enjoy the fact that Kagome and him fought on a daily basis, but it was so drilled into him that it was almost basic instinct. He flopped on his bed, but then noticed the crumpled paper under him. He grabbed it and realized it was the information that the Five sent.

After he read over it, he tossed it in his suitcase along with some clothes and a couple of other things.

Miroku's question floated back into his mind again. He groaned and threw his favorite red jacket a into his suitcase a little more forcefully than he intended too. _Why did everyone keep asking me? It's not like I remember when I met her!_

He decided a quick shower would work to free his mind. Besides, with what the note said, it sounded like he was going to have to save the world.

* * *

**A/N: And there you have it folks! Please, I love reviews so drop some for me! Feed back is appreciated and so are thoughts about the chapter. Was it boring or was it interesting? Do you guys want me to continue it? This would be a chapter story too, just to throw it out there.**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

**-Daichi**


	2. Car chase

**A/N: Three reviews! Yay! I'm glad you guys are taking your time to read. Here is the second chapter for you guys.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha!**

**Chapter 2: Car chase**

Kagome woke up bright and early the next morning to make sure she was ready. She took a look around her room and then grabbed her suitcase. She walked to her car and got in but the moment she did, her cell rang.

She opened it without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?" She turned on her car and started driving away.

"_Kagome, It's Sango. I was calling to see how you were doing."_

Kagome turned to the right on the street she was on. "Actually, I'm on my way to headquarters. Is Inuyasha there?"

"_No, he still hasn't come. Miroku hasn't either, so I'm thinking he might be over there to help him out."_

Kagome nodded to herself. It figures stupid Inuyasha wouldn't be there on time. She slammed her fist on the wheel, but she missed and she almost jumped out of her own skin when she heard the honk. She ignored the glares from the other drivers and finally pulled up to headquarters.

"Sango, I'm here. I'll see you in a few minutes." Kagome snapped her cell phone closed. She parked and got out of her car in hurry, grabbing her things. Sango met her at the main entrance. She had a soda for her.

"Here," She offered the soda. "Just in case you need a little caffeine." She smiled. Kagome took the soda happily and drank a bit.

"Thanks Sango." She wiped her mouth with a napkin she had in her pocket. "Where do I have to go?"

Sango brightened. "Oh, just follow me. You're lucky," Sango looked over her shoulder at Kagome as they started walking. "You get the good cars and the good gadgets." She continued down the hall until she reached a door with no lock on it. She pushed it open and the room illuminated the room.

The room itself was huge, bigger than any other room they had in the building. Off the right there was a computer which archived and printed all the mission done. Sango walked over to check the computer. "It says you get the Rev," Sango pointed to a yellow Porsche. At first glance, it looked like a regular car; on the inside, everything was different. It had a complex GPS system, designed to locate any person with their universal ID. It also had TV, where Head Quarters could talk them if need be. Some parts of the car were actually weapons for any last minute defense needs. The glove compartment contained a number of different gadgets, all disguised to look like everyday things.

"Really?" Kagome asked, touching the Porsche's window. She couldn't believe she was given such a nice car. Sango leaned against the wall and smirked.

"Told you. You always get the best stuff."

* * *

Inuyasha woke up groggily to the sound of his alarm clock. He had put it so that he would wake up one hours before he had to be at Head Quarters. He threw off his blankets and walked to his bathroom. After a quick shower, he grabbed his clothes and donned them as fast as he could. He was brushing through his hair when he heard a knock on his door.

"Inuyasha, you're late!" Miroku said, as soon as Inuyasha opened the door. Inuyasha lifted an eyebrow.

"No, I'm not. Check the clock."

Miroku rolled his eyes. "You _never_ changed your clock." He shoved his watch at him. "_This_ is what time it is."

Inuyasha's eyes bugged out when he realized Miroku was right. He was five minutes late already. If he didn't leave now, he would never hear the end of it from Kagome, and the Five would reprimand him for being late on such an important mission.

"Let's go Miroku." He said, grabbing the stuff he had packed already. "They'll have my head if I don't get there."

They ran out and got into their separate cars. Inuyasha sped all the way, getting honks from angry drivers and narrowly avoiding an officer who had been looking down when he had passed.

At last he reached head quarters. He didn't even bother locking his car. He snatched his things and ran as fast as he could inside. Until he realized he didn't even know where to go. He was about to ask fro direction when Miroku came in, panting and huffing.

"Inuyasha!" He panted, leaning on the wall. "I'm supposed to show you were to go." He breathed in deeply and in a moment was ready again. "Follow me."

Inuyasha turned to follow Miroku and watched as he opened the door of a room he had never seen before.

"Miroku! Inuyasha! You made it," Sango greeted them, walking to Miroku. Miroku lifted up his hand and patted Sango on the backside.

"Oh, Sango! I love it when you greet me that way."

A slap and some stomping later, Sango wiped her hand and turned to Kagome. "Well, it's good you made it."

Kagome rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Barely. I swear, you're such a flake, Inuyasha."

"And you act like you got a stick up your-"

Kagome's glare stopped him from finishing his sentence. Sango and Miroku exchanged a look.

"You guys, you have to _work together _to get this mission done." Miroku tried to convey to them, but they weren't listing. Both were busy playing a glaring contest. Sango sighed.

"Here, Kagome." She tossed her the keys as she turned. Kagome caught it with ease. Sango grabbed Miroku and walked him out. "You guys decide who'll drive."

Kagome tightened her grip on the keys. "I'll drive."

Inuyasha snatched the keys out of her hand. "I don't think so. We'll spend hours at just one intersection as you contemplate your options." He was already in the car before Kagome could even open her mouth. When Inuyasha signaled her to hurry up, she got her things and threw it in her trunk. She even got Inuyasha's, even though she would have rather tossed it to the dogs.

When she finally got in, she strapped in tightly. You never knew what could happen when Inuyasha was driving. He pulled out slowly and the garage door opened, letting the sunlight come in.

"And we're off," Kagome mumbled under her breath. She was not looking forward to spending so much time with Inuyasha.

For a good half hour, the pair were silent in the car. No comments, no insults no nothing. It was like one them had died. It wasn't until Kagome got fed up, did she finally say something.

"So…" Kagome started, trying to think of a good conversation starter. She racked her brain but sadly, she couldn't find one. But the again, why would she want to talk to Inuyasha? He was never nice to her so why should she even bother?

"Look," Inuyasha started. Kagome glanced at him. "I know we don't like each other, but we still have to work on this mission."

Kagome's eyebrows raised. "Well, look who died and became a saint." Kagome rolled her eyes. "But I agree- we should take our job more seriously."

Inuyasha nodded. "Yeah."

And so the silence began again. That is, until some one threw something at Kagome's window. She jumped, startled.

"What was that?" She glanced outside, looking for a culprit.

"Just ignore it." Came Inuyasha's gruff reply. Kagome was about to turn away, when something bigger hit the back of the car.

"What the hell?" Inuyasha glanced in the rear view mirror. Behind them was an SUV, and the person inside was opening the sunroof, brandishing a rifle.

"Kagome, hold on tight!" He yelled, as he revved the engine. Bullets began to hit the back window, and Inuyasha wondered if they were bullet proof.

"Inuyasha! What's happening?" Kagome yelled at him. Inuyasha had the odd urge to hold her hand to comfort her but he kept his hands firmly on the wheel.

"I don't know, but someone wants us dead."

Kagome was holding on as tight as she could without crushing anything. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe evenly, but she couldn't do it with the sound of bullets hitting the back window. Kagome opened one eye to glance in the wing mirror again. She was surprised to see that the SUV was coming to her side.

"Inuyasha!" she screamed, trying to scramble to his side.

Inuyasha glanced at the window and saw the guy readying his gun. He had to make a decision fast. If he didn't, they wouldn't make it. Inuyasha glanced at the road, but since they were on the highway, there was an exit coming up.

"Kagome, hold on to the door and bend down!" Inuyasha had only one shot to make the exit. He shifted gears and changed lanes without putting on any lights. He passed the SUV, and when he did, the driver stepped on the break and changed lanes right after him. Inuyasha cursed. How would he lose them now?

His answer came in the form of an unfinished road.

Kagome eyes widened as she lifted her head to see where they were going. "Are you crazy?" She screamed. "We'll never make it!"

Inuyasha ignored her question. "Keh. You're just going to have to trust me."

Kagome thought on how that was the last thing on earth she wanted to do, but as the road started to end and Inuyasha had to avoid the construction workers, she decided she had no choice. She sat in her seat again, strapping the seat belt around her.

"What are you doing?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome looked straight ahead. "I'm trusting you."

Inuyasha did a double take. Kagome was _actually_ trusting _him_? Now he'd seen everything.

Kagome closed her eyes as they neared the very end of the road. She thought of her friends back at the base, her life and all those things you think of when you're about to die.

"I swear Inuyasha, if you kill us, I'll come after you in hell."

Inuyasha laughed as the car hit a ramp and soared through the sky. The SUV stopped just in the nick of time, but as soon as they saw the car jump, they turned away.

Kagome opened her eyes again, just in time to see Inuyasha press a button. Immediately the seats were ejected out of the car, and since Kagome was still strapped in, she flew out. She glanced to her right and saw Inuyasha had been thrown too. The parachutes were deployed right as they began to fall. Kagome sighed in relief and glanced at Inuyasha.

"I'm never driving in the same car as you ever again."

Inuyasha laughed, and as they landed softly on the ground, he unstrapped himself. "But you have to admit, I'm a hell of a good driver."

Kagome rolled her eyes, but gave him a small smile. "I guess. But now how are we going to get anywhere?"

Inuyasha crossed his arms. "Easy. I'm half-demon and I'm fast. You can ride on my back."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "And where are we going to sleep?"

Inuyasha looked around. "Well, we're near a place where I have some friends. I don't know how you might take it, but it's all we got."

Kagome didn't like the sound of it, but if it was a place to sleep, at least for the night, then she would bear with it.

Inuyasha turned to her. "Hop on my back." Kagome obeyed and scrambled onto his back.

Inuyasha noticed she didn't weigh almost a thing. Her scent wafted to his nose, and he inhaled the sweetness of it. She might be a pain in the ass, but she sure did smell good.

"Inuyasha? Are we leaving or what?"

Inuyasha snapped back from his thoughts and began to run. "Just hold on tight." As they began to run, he realized that he liked the feeling of her on his back.

What the hell was wrong with him?

* * *

**A/N: So. . . What do you guys think? Please tell me in your review! I hope you liked this chapter!**


	3. Information

**A/N: I'm back with another chapter! Sorry to keep you guys waiting! Hopefully this chapter makes it up.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Inuyasha.**

**Chapter 3: Information**

Kagome closed her eyes as she rode on Inuyasha's back. She tried to open her eyes every once in a while, but the blur of the scenery made her queasy. Besides, she couldn't tell where they were going. What kind of friends was Inuyasha talking about?

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Kagome, they came to a stop. She opened her eyes and took one look at where she was.

"_You_ have friends_ here_?" Kagome slid off his back as she looked around. They were standing in what probably was the most dangerous side of town. She could see the thugs watching Inuyasha and her closely. A shiver went up her back.

Inuyasha smirked. "What, you jealous?"

Kagome frowned. "No, but I'm getting freaked out."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Girls," He muttered under his breath as he began walking away from Kagome. She ignored his comment and ran after him, afraid to be left alone. They walked until they came to a shabby and crime worthy pool place. Inuyasha stepped up to the door, and the guard held out his hand.

"This is a private party." He said, in a distinctable New York accent. Inuyasha didn't seem fazed, from what Kagome could see.

"Are you sure?" He asked, Giving him punch to the gut. He felt over in pain and he pulled Kagome inside the doors. "Because the last I checked, I was crashing it."

Kagome's were as wide as saucers. What the hell was Inuyasha doing, for crying out loud! He couldn't just go punching people whenever he wanted.

"Inuyasha, what the hell are you doing? You just can't go around punching people!" Kagome whispered loudly, so other people wouldn't hear. "You're an agent of the FBI!"

Inuyasha turned and met her gaze without faltering. "Kagome, are you hearing yourself? What FBI agent hasn't punched somebody or even shot someone? We're not just here for somewhere to stay, but information on who may have the chip." Inuyasha waited for Kagome to respond, but when she didn't he continued. "Wake up and smell reality, Kagome."

Kagome frowned and opened her mouth to say something but she shut it again. It irritated her that she wasn't in control for once. It irritated her that Inuyasha had talked to her like that.

It irritated and shocked her that she couldn't debunk Inuyasha's logic.

They went moving through the dimly-lit interior of the building. Kagome could see and hear the type of men who were in here. One man stepped in front of her just as Inuyasha mad moved a couple steps forward.

"Hey, look at what we have here! A woman!" A drunken mad jeered, but his gaze traveled down Kagome. She took a step back and her arms wrapped around her arms.

"And she's a pretty one too! What do you want to do with her?" Another man replied.

The drunk man leered. "A couple of things." He pressed forward and grabbed Kagome's wrist with a strong grip. "C'mon sweetie let's-" His sentence was cut off by Inuyasha, who grabbed him from his shoulder from behind, turned him around and punched him.

"Keep your dirty hands to yourself, jackass." He growled. He grabbed Kagome's arm and tired to pull her through the crowd, but the man lying down wasn't having that.

"Hey you!" he yelled, signaling Inuyasha with his finger. "Come back here and fight!"

Kagome grabbed onto Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, don't go back."

He shook her off. "And let him insult you like that? Not on your life." He walked back to the man that had called him out. "You want some more broken bones, then?" Inuyasha cracked his knuckles menacingly. The other man just growled and went straight for him. Kagome could only close her eyes.

She peeked one eye open and realized Inuyasha had stopped the man head on. Her mouth dropped open as she watched Inuyasha easily raise the man and throw him to the other side of the room. The others watched him and cowered to the back of the room from fear.

Suddenly, a voice came from the inner parts of where they were. "What's all this?"

Inuyasha turned and glanced at the man who spoke. "Just tell your goons to keep their hands to themselves, Kouga."

Kagome dropped her hand and glanced at the man named Kouga. He had long brown hair, which was held in a ponytail and the most startling ice blue eyes. His body and muscles suggested he worked out everyday. Kagome raised an eyebrow. He was pretty cute.

Kouga laughed. "Mutt, you do it every time. Can't I get just one visit without having to pay for damages?" He walked toward Inuyasha, clasping his hand . He noticed Kagome and his eyes locked on her. "Is she the reason you beat up the guy?" He asked, jabbing a thumb at her.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Who else?"

Kouga turned to Kagome, looking her up and down. "Well, she is pretty cute." He said thoughtfully, his hand to his chin.

"Don't talk like I'm not here! And stop looking at me that way!" Kagome complained, walking to get beside Inuyasha. She was getting more nervous by the minute.

Kouga chuckled. "Hey, she's feisty too! Congrats on this one." Kagome blushed and glanced at the floor.

Inuyasha crossed his arms. "She isn't my girlfriend, Kouga. She's my partner for an investigation. One, that I think, you might have information on."

Kouga groaned. "Information again? If I keep telling you things, Inuyasha, I won't be around to keep telling." He glanced at the drunk men in the room. "Follow me."

Inuyasha and Kagome followed him until they reached a door at the end of the right hallway. Kouga took out a key and opened it. "This is my private study," he explained, pushing the door open. They walked inside and closed the door. Kouga went to sit in his chair and he gestured for them to sit down in front to his brand-new desk. "Take a seat."

Inuyasha sat down and got straight to the point. "I need information on who stole the chip from our base. You know which one I'm talking about."

Kagome noted that Kouga started to sweat and fold his hands. "I don't know what you're talking about, Inuyasha." Kagome could tell he wasn't speaking the truth.

"You're lying."

Inuyasha glanced at Kagome and saw how she had narrowed her eyes. He then noticed Kouga's scent had changed from calm to agitated. Kouga's eyes averted to Kagome.

"What?"

Kagome straightened up, glaring down Kouga. "You're lying. I can tell by the way you keep fidgeting. You know something, something you don't want to tell us."

Kouga opened his mouth and then closed it. He glared at her. "You're smarter than you look."

Kagome folded her hands and smirked. "I always get that."

Inuyasha coughed, making Kouga glance at him. "So what do you know?"

Kouga sighed and leaned back onto his chair. "Well, I don't know much, but the bit I do know is very significant."

"Spit it out already."

Kouga rolled his eyes. "Alright already. The man's name is one of the most feared in the underground systems."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Please."

"I'm being serious!" Kouga glanced angrily at Inuyasha. "He's feared by a lot of people and with good reason. Some people say he doesn't even have a heart. "

Kagome leaned in. "So who is he?"

Kouga sat up straight. "His name's Naraku."

* * *

As Inuyasha and Kagome left Kouga's office, Kouga called out to them.

"Is that all you wanted?"

Kagome nudged Inuyasha. "Didn't you say he could give us a place to stay?" She whispered low.

Inuyasha glanced at Kagome. "Yeah, but he'll want something in return."

"Like what?"

Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders. Kagome frowned and instead walked back inside to talk to Kouga. He glanced up and gave her a smile.

"Ah, what do you need, Kagome?"

Kagome smiled back. "Well, we lost our car on the way and we also need a place to stay. Can you help with that?"

Kouga walked around his desk and stood in front of Kagome. "I could. . . But on one condition."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

Kouga's eyes glanced at the door and lowered his voice, trying to make sure Inuyasha didn't hear. "One date with me and you guys have a car too."

Kagome thought it over. She had a feeling Kouga hadn't been very truthful about what he knew and this might just be a good opportunity to weasel the information out of him.

Kagome gave him her most alluring smile. "Then it's settled."

* * *

"WHAT? You can't go on a date with Kouga!" Inuyasha's eyes were bulging out as Kagome told him the news as they entered a hotel room, courtesy of Kouga. Kagome rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, what else did you want me to do? It's just a date, Inuyasha." Kagome glared at him, plopping down on one of the twin beds.

Inuyasha started pacing and pulling at his hair. "How can you be so stupid, Kagome? And here I thought you were the smart one. He doesn't want _just_ a date!"

Kagome kept glaring at him. "I understand that, but I'm not going to be dumb enough to actually fall for his stupid tricks!"

Inuyasha stopped and grabbed her shoulders. "It's not whether you fall for it, it's whether he slips something into your drink and he does something to your unawares!"

By this time, Inuyasha's face was mere inches away from Kagome's. After a minute, and after Kagome started blushing, he pulled back.

Kagome stood up. "Well, why are you so concerned about me anyway?" she asked hotly.

Inuyasha opened his mouth, but he couldn't find a good retort. Why did he care if Kouga did something to Kagome? He hated her, didn't he?

Didn't he?

Inuyasha shook his head. "I just am, okay?"

Kagome fell silent after what he said. She was thinking whether or not to go through with it, but if she told Inuyasha her motives, then maybe he would stop worrying. Of course, she didn't _have_ to explain herself to a person with half the IQ of a peanut shell, but then again he _was_ her partner on this investigation. It wouldn't hurt to tell him.

"I don't think Kouga was being all that truthful to you when you asked him what he knew." She paused, and crossed her arms. "I accepted so that I could try to get the rest of the information out of him. It's not like I wanted to go out with him." She sat down and turned away from Inuyasha.

He stood there, taking in what Kagome had just said. He felt relived in a way and sort of elated. Was it because Kagome wasn't going on a real date? Was it because she said she didn't want to? Inuyasha shook his head. Of course not! He was happy she was getting more information, but he didn't like the way she was going to do it.

Inuyasha went to his own bed and fell on backwards. He closed his eyes and laid his head over his crossed arms.

"Just make sure to call me when your date is over."

Kagome glanced up and gave Inuyasha a small smile. She knew he was looking out for her, even if he didn't know it himself.

It wasn't very late yet, but she sat there, watching Inuyasha sleep. She wondered why it bothered him so much. Didn't he say he hated her? At one time she had said it too, but as she looked upon him now, she felt different. She smiled. They were still far from being friends, and she didn't deny that.

But she didn't hate him anymore.

* * *

**A/N: Well, what do you guys think? I'm sorry this came out late, but I finally finished it! So what's going to happen at Kagome's date tonight? Does Kouga have more information and if so, how is Kagome going to get it out of him? Find out in the next chapter!**

**~Daichi**

**P.S **_**REVIEW**_** or you won't get the next chapter! At least five please!**


	4. Dancing with the devil

**A/N: I'm sorry this is late, but I got grounded because of my sister (isn't it always like that?) and my mom just ended my sentence! So here's the next chapter and I hope you like it!**

**Chapter 4: Dancing with the devil**

Inuyasha was sitting down on one of the beds and was currently flipping the channels on TV. He was nervous and he had a right to be, because Kagome's date was approaching faster than he wanted it too. He glanced at the clock apprehensively one more time. Only ten minutes before he had to drop off Kagome at this fancy restaurant Kouga had told him about when he called earlier.

He was at the verge of telling Kagome that she had to stay, when she stepped out of the bathroom.

"How do I look?" She asked, posing slightly. Inuyasha turned to look.

Inuyasha gaped at Kagome, dressed in a beautiful midnight-colored floor length dress. Her hair was done up and she had curled it, leaving a couple of ringlets from out of the bob of her hair. Inuyasha stood up, still unable to answer. She barely had any make-up, but she didn't need it.

He had never seen such a beautiful woman in all his life. The dress hugged her curves nicely and the dark color made her skin look a more healthy pale. It was strapless as well. Finally, Kagome gave him a weird look and he snapped back.

"Is it that bad?"

Inuyasha shook his head, blubbering for a few seconds. "Uh, n-no! You look. . . pretty."

Kagome gave him a small smile. "Well, I think we should be going."

Inuyasha nodded rather hurriedly and grabbed the keys to the car Kouga had loaned him. They reached the stairs and Kagome held onto his arm as they descended.

As they got in the car and began to drive to their destination, he couldn't believe how stupid he had been. Why did he only say pretty? She was beautiful, dazzling, beyond compare top anything in the world and the only thing he came up with that she was pretty?

But then his mental FBI rule book slapped him with the backside of the cover. One of the things he wasn't supposed to was to fall in love with his partner. (Well, the book only said "relationship" but he decided it fit as well. ) He couldn't think of Kagome that way. It could jeopardize the _whole_ mission!

Inuyasha had no more time to think, as they had arrived at the restaurant. Kouga was standing outside, all dressed up in his suit. For a moment, Inuyasha envied him, but as fleeting as feeling had come, it went away.

Kouga spotted him and reached them. He didn't even bother to look at Inuyasha as Kagome stepped out the car.

"You look marvelous!" He exclaimed, grabbing her hand and kissing it. Inuyasha saw Kagome blush.

"Why thank you, Kouga." She gave him a dazzling smile. Kouga nodded and turned to the man outside the door, who had a list of the reservations. While he was distracted, Inuyasha gave Kagome the powder she had requested.

"Only use a pinch. The effect of it will be like he's drunk, okay?" Inuyasha whispered to Kagome. She nodded and took the little bag filled with yellow powder.

"Thanks, Inuyasha. You're a great partner." She gave him a pat on the shoulder. She started to walk toward Kouga, but Inuyasha caught her elbow before she could walk further.

His eyes fell apprehensively to the floor and back at her. "Be careful."

Kagome was touched by his worry and she smiled softly at him. She gave a wink. "Don't worry, Inuyasha. I know how to take care of myself." Inuyasha watched her walk away and join Kouga, her arm slipping into his.

_There's something wrong with this_, he thought to himself. Something in the air seemed. . . Off. He had a gut feeling, and usually his gut never failed him. He didn't know what could happened, but what would it hurt to stick around for a couple of hours. He could serve as surveillance, maybe watch Kouga and Kagome to make sure that she would be alright? Yeah, he could do that. He decided to park the car somewhere else and he would begin when he came back.

* * *

"Isn't this grand, Kagome?" Kouga swept his arm across the room to show her. Kagome nodded, not really that much interested in her surroundings. Her objective was to get the information and get out. She wondered if she could do that with Kouga hanging on her every word. She would have to be clever.

The hostess showed them to a table in a private section of the restaurant. Kagome decided to play on his ego.

"Wow, Kouga! You must be really important to get _such_ a great table." She watched as Kouga smirked. _Hook, line and sinker. _Kagome had to suppress the urge to smirk.

"Yes, I guess I am, huh?" Kouga laughed. Kagome let her façade. "I mean, look how much help I give to Inuyasha all the time! I help him get information no one else would give to him. At least, for a slight fee, of course"

Kagome smiled, but on the inside she resisted the urge to vomit. Who did the guy think he was? A superhero? Kagome didn't think that much of him. Sure, he helped them but only at his convenience. She was sure that if it hadn't been for her that he wouldn't have said anything in the first place. He was greedy and selfish. Kagome didn't need to analyze him to know that.

"Of course." She sipped a drink that the waiter had placed on the table. She could drink now, but later, when she left to go to the bathroom, she wouldn't be able to.

"So, Kouga. How do you get so much information?" Kagome asked, watching his reaction.

He was thoughtful for a moment. "I just know people."

Kagome nodded, accepting the piece of information. He probably had friends high and low and used it to his advantage. _He works for himself and his money, _she assessed and then smirked. _I guess having a degree in psychology wasn't a waste of my time._

"But I have a feeling you didn't tell Inuyasha all of it, did you?" She grabbed her glass taking a sip again and eyeing Kouga as she did.

Kouga's reaction was typical. He cast his eyes down and didn't try to meet her gaze like he had tried when she first arrived.

He finally looked up. "I. . . don't know what you're talking about."

Kagome realized she would have to play another card to get the information out of him. She smiled and leaned toward him, her hand grabbing Kouga's. She gave him her most dazzling smile, hoping that it would work. _Ugh, I can't believe I have to stoop this low…_

"You know, I don't have to tell Inuyasha a thing." Kagome whispered, her voice low and inviting. Kouga swallowed and gulped for a second, before gaining his composure and smiling back.

"I was thinking the same thing." Kouga whispered back. "You know, Kagome, you're really different." The hand that rested on the table traced her arm, and Kagome subtly pulled back.

"Coming from you, it makes me shiver."

Literally, it did. Kagome had a bad feeling that Inuyasha was right about him. Apart from being a selfish, money grubbing man, he liked to have his fill of women too? Kagome was really happy she wasn't on a real date with him,

She had to move her plan into action. While he was staring at the menu that waiter had just brought him, Kagome slipped the yellow powder in his drink. The waiter had his back turned so he didn't see either. The powder dissolved nicely in the water.

Kagome couldn't help but smile as Kouga took a long swig of the drink, almost downing the cup.

"That tastes good."

Kagome almost smiled at the effectiveness of the powder His eyes were already getting slightly droopy. But she would need him conscience.

"So, Kouga. . . What did you not tell Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

Kouga blinked and then looked at her funny. "Why should I tell you? You're his partner."

Kagome silently cursed. He still wasn't giving in. How could she get him to spill?

Kagome decided to lie. "Well, just between you and me, I'm no fan on Inuyasha. He a big egotistical idiot who can't seem to figure out anything his life."

Kouga laughed and Kagome wished fervently that Inuyasha was no where near to hear what she said.

* * *

Inuyasha was upset.

Scratch that, he was positively _livid_.

After all he did for this girl, she was still talking bad about him behind his back? Maybe she hadn't gotten over her hate or something but he was sure as hell not helping her anymore. Even if she was his partner.

He shouldn't care. He shouldn't care one single bit about her, but then why was he wasting his time hanging in a tree outside the restaurant, making sure she didn't get hurt?

Even he didn't know.

Suddenly, a thought came to his mind. What if she was only pretending to get on Kouga's good side? It seemed like it.

When she had leaned in toward him, Inuyasha almost burst in through the window he was watching. Any other person would have believed her act, but he knew better. So it was likely she was doing the same thing now.

But that didn't mean he liked it. Those words in Kagome's mouth were like poison. They made _him _feel bad, Inuyasha Takahashi. Who had ever done that?

* * *

"How can I be sure I can trust you?"

Kouga's question made Kagome think. What could she tell him without promising anything? If those effects didn't kick in, then she would have to shoot herself.

She looked out toward the separate place where couples were dancing. Maybe if she promised him a dance, he would confess. First, though, she would have to see what he really wanted from her.

"I'll be right back." She grabbed her purse and raised herself from her chair and started walking to the ladies room. She opened her compact and spied Kouga in it's reflection. Sure enough, he tossed something in her drink. She was sure that it was a sedative or something like it. She entered the restroom and grabbed a stall, closing the door.

She had to think fast. What could she do? She was running out of time and opportunity. She walked out and made of show of washing her hands. She would have to let him think, he had her under his arm. It was the only way.

She smiled as she rejoined Kouga at their table. The food was served, but Kagome had no appetite. She raised the glass with her drink and noticed the smell was off. She carefully smelled the air.

Opium.

So he was trying to get rid of her, or just get her to the point where she was no longer coherent? It all depended how much he had put in, but the smell caused her to think the first one. She feigned as she raised the glass to her pressed lips, and watched Kouga smile.

_Bastard._

"Why don't we dance?" She gestured to the dance floor, where the couples of high society danced away their lives. Kouga raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it.

"Alright."

He stood from his chair, taking Kagome's hand in his across the table. They walked to the dance floor and suddenly Kagome was glad she had learned how to dance. It wouldn't look good if she kept tripping her over own feet.

"Look, we both can agree we don't like Inuyasha, so I think I will tell you." Kouga gave her a wink.

Kagome knew he thought he could tell her because she wouldn't be alive to tell Inuyasha. Kagome pleasantly smiled back. "Do tell."

Kouga leaned it, and Kagome almost backed away. "Naraku isn't his real name. That's his alias, but he won't respond to his old name, Onigumo. He lives farther north, in the mountains. He lives a solitary life, but his plans have reached down all the way here.

"Fascinating." Kagome responded.

Kouga smiled. "There's more. He plans to use the chip to . . ." Suddenly, Kouga stopped and focused on someone behind her.

"May I cut in?"

Kagome turned to see a man with long, dark hair and startling red eyes. She felt a chill go up her spine, but as to be rude, she accepted.

Kouga looked as if he tried to tell her something, but it was then when the effects of the powder finally got to him. He fell to the floor and slept off to dreamland.

The man who Kagome was dancing with _tsked_. "Such a waste. Now why would a woman like you be with a guy like him?" His gaze settled on her and Kagome began to get queasy. She tried to give him a smile, but the constant shivers he gave her didn't let her.

"I'm just on a date. I'm not with him." Her voice was weak when she wanted it to sound strong. She didn't know what it was about this man, but she itched to just walk away. If he tried anything, she would just incapacitate him. She did know some self-defense.

"So it seems." Suddenly, the man's eyes pierced her and it was as if he was trying to look into the dark crevices of her soul. "But then why would you want information about me, Kagome Higurashi?"

Kagome didn't have a chance to respond when Naraku gave a swift punch to her stomach, making her pass out.

* * *

**A/N: Oh no, it's a famous Daichilover cliff! Don't you just love them?**

**So please you guys, tell me what you liked and what you loved in your REVIEW! I want six before I update again, but more would be appreciated! Please don't forget to read and review my other stories and vote on my poll that's on my profile!**

**~Daichi**

**P.S: Please read and review Nyony's echo story, "Bitter or Sweet?"! It's very good! I would also recommend, "Lives will change,", "By candlelight" both by nightfalcon222 and "Defying fate" which is a co-written story with rockerchick16. It's on her profile so check it out and review! I'm serious! I will come after you! (Lol)**


	5. Bubbling to the surface

**A/N: Seven Reviews! I feel the love in the air! Thank you so, so, so, so much! If I keep getting that kind of response, I'll make this story the top of my list to write! In short, if I keep getting these many reviews, I'll update more often. I didn't update sooner because it was my birthday on Sunday and I had to update two other stories. I turned fifteen, just so you know :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own, blah,blah,blah. Someone shoot me.**

**Chapter 5: Bubbling to the surface**

Oh _hell_ no.

Inuyasha had been calmly watching Kagome converse with Kouga, when he realized that she asked him to dance. As he watched, he felt his stomach twist and the compulsive need to crash in and pull her away. Was he feeling jealous? He decided not to answer that.

He watched them whisper to each other, and how close they were. Kouga had better not try a thing, for Inuyasha would sooner fall dead than let him lay a finger on Kagome. But since he already had, he would just have to wait for another excuse.

Suddenly, Inuyasha saw a man who he hadn't seen before, approach Kagome and Kouga. It seemed like he was cutting in or something like that.

_Oh great, another guy who likes her._

Inuyasha shook his head and watched more intently on Kagome's reaction. She seemed rigid, almost stiff, when she took the man's hand. Not to mention the nervous look on her face. He scanned around to see Kouga passed out on the side of the room. No one even seemed to notice him sprawled on the floor. Inuyasha rolled his eyes. His gaze returned to Kagome and the moment he did, he took notice of the paleness of her face. What was wrong?

He gasped as he saw the man punch Kagome in her stomach and watched her pass out.

Inuyasha had his gun out in less time than you could blink. He jumped from the tree branch he had been on and crashed right through the window, scattering glass and making people gasp and start to run. He landed right in front of the man, who held Kagome like a rag doll.

Inuyasha held up the gun gun toward the man."Let go of her you bastard."

The man smirked at him. "I wouldn't point that at me, if I were you. Someone might just get in the way." He glanced toward Kagome and Inuyasha couldn't help but growl. Naraku smirked. "Why don't you put the gun down? If not. . . well, we could arrange something for the girl." He took out his own pistol from behind him and pointed the barrel at Kagome's head.

Inuyasha was disgusted with the red-eyed man. He would sacrifice someone else's life to save his own skin? Inuyasha continued to growl but let the gun down where he was. He held his hands up in surrender.

Naraku smiled and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, men that Inuyasha hadn't noticed before, stood up with their own guns, all inevitably pointed at him. He silently cursed himself for falling for the trap, but what could he do? He had to save Kagome. Strategies, attacks and anything else he could think of began to run through his mind. He needed a way out and fast.

Naraku began to walk backwards slowly, dragging Kagome along. "It was nice to meet you Inuyasha, but I have to go. Since I won't be seeing you anymore, maybe you'd like to know who I am." He smirked and leaned toward him. "Naraku. Sound familiar to you?"

He growled at him without holding back. Inuyasha was insulted he thought he was stupid or something.

He laughed and turned away. "Kill him." The last command was hissed toward his goons, but Inuyasha was faster. He lunged for him, but he was careful not to go to far to the side and hurt Kagome. If he brought this guy down, he could save her.

They landed on a table and it broke with the force that Inuyasha had pushed Naraku with. Kagome fell to the side and began to stir from the loud sound of the commotion. She opened her eyes slowly and blinked, taking what was happening around her first, she didn't feel anything but the pain in her stomach.

"That's gonna leave a bruise." She whispered to herself, wincing from the pain. Then, as her vision became clearer, she saw that Inuyasha was fighting Naraku a couple of feet away from her. She scrambled up as fast as she could with her stomach the way it was. She looked around and was surprised she hadn't seen the other men. It looked like they has shot, but without satisfaction. No one was hurt.

Kagome pursed her lips as she thought. She needed to help Inuyasha and time was running out. She needed something to defend herself and Inuyasha. . .

Her eye caught Kouga laying on the floor across the room, a gun hanging from his trousers. A light bulb lit in Kagome's mind and she began to crawl to the other side of the room, trying not to be noticed.

Naraku had seen her though and though he was dodging punches from Inuyasha, he pointed toward her. "Get the girl!"

Inuyasha jumped off of him as fast as he could, punching Naraku's face and moving simultaneously toward Kagome and picking her up. The goons never got to her as Inuyasha's speed had somehow increased. Kagome herself was surprised, and she clung onto Inuyasha for dear life.

"Dammit, Kagome!" Inuyasha voice wasn't loud, but Kagome could hear the reprimand in his voice. "Stay put and stay out of the fight."

Kagome frowned. "No! You're just going to get yourself hurt."

"Kagome, I can take care of myself!" Inuyasha growled.

"And I can too!"

Kagome's shout rang through Inuyasha's ears. He couldn't believe Kagome was being so stubborn about this. He just wanted her to be safe. Why was it hard to understand? He let her go and Kagome struggled to stand properly.

Her stomach was hurting, so much that she wanted to double over in pain. But she had to show Inuyasha she could take care of herself, that she didn't need him to save her every time she was in danger. She was a an agent too."

"Stay." Inuyasha tone of voice was clear to her. He didn't want anymore interference.

But who said she was going to listen? She ran toward Kouga and grabbed the gun, pointed it at Naraku and cocked the gun.

* * *

Inuyasha walked away from Kagome, hoping she would just listen to him for once. But that was like hoping Miroku wouldn't touch Sango.

Futile.

Naraku was just getting up from the punch that he had been given. He wiped the blood that had been trickling down his mouth away and frowned at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha began to tense for the fight, but then he heard something click behind him. He whirled around and was surprised to see Kagome holding a gun at Naraku. He turned around to see Naraku, who was angrier than anything.

"Leave or I'll shoot." Kagome tried to make her voice seem fierce, but her hands were trembling slightly. She hoped no one would notice.

Inuyasha called her bluff in a second. Kagome would never hurt anyone. But would Naraku call it too?

He didn't. "As much as I would like to stay, I really do think I should go now." He gave her a murderous glare and turned to run away. Inuyasha followed after him to try and stop him from leaving, but an unexpected table was thrown at him from his side and he had only seconds to dodge it.

But those seconds had been enough for Naraku to escape.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath, wiping some trickling blood from his nose, though the flow seemed to lessen as he did. "He got away."

A gasp from behind him made him realize that he wasn't the only one there. Kagome fell to the floor coughing hard and sounding like she was struggling for breath. He immediately bounded to her and lifted her gently into his arms.

"Are you alright?" She rasped. Inuyasha pursed his lips and gazed at her. Only she would ask how he was doing when she wasn't doing so hot herself.

"Just a few bloody wounds, but that'll take care of itself. What you need to worry about is you." His voice grew a bit sharper. "What were you thinking grabbing that gun? I called your bluff the minute you posed that stupid threat of yours. Weren't you thinking?"

Kagome started to breath easier and she lifted her head up to meet his face with a wry smile. "Was I that obvious?"

Inuyasha sighed. "Yes, you were. Why didn't you listen to me? Why didn't you just stay where you were? You were already hurt!"

Kagome frowned slightly. "I had to prove to you that I could help."

Inuyasha laughed without mirth. "And you think trying to die is the way to go?"

"I wasn't going to get myself kill-"

"Yes, you were! If Naraku had called your bluff, at least a dozen bullets would have been shot at you." He stood, picking her up. His expression was hard and his lips were tight. Kagome didn't know what to say, but the way Inuyasha had said the last comment rendered Kagome silent.

It didn't stop her from thinking of it though. What if she had gotten herself killed? She thought Inuyasha hated her. While she didn't hate him anymore, she couldn't speak for Inuyasha. Who knows, he would've been planning some vengeance plan while she was with Kouga.

But he hadn't. Instead, right when she needed him, he appeared like a knight in shining armor. But how had he appeared so quickly? She had barely passed out, or so she guessed. As Inuyasha walked away from the mess that had been the ballroom floor and tables, Kagome caught sight of the broken window.

_So he was watching me? _A smile slowly began to spread across her face. He had been worried about her, then? Enough to keep watch on her, at least. Kagome couldn't help but feel nice about it. It sort of made her feel better, that he had done it to keep her safe. But the smile slowly disappeared as she thought about the comment she had made to Kouga about Inuyasha.

_"Well, just between you and me, I'm no fan of Inuyasha. He's a big egotistical idiot who can't figure out anything in his life."_

_Oh man. He must've heard me._

Kagome couldn't help but feel bad and when she realized he could have just left instead of having stayed, her throat began to tighten. How could she had been so insensitive when she had yelled those insults at him? She quickly wiped away a tear from her eye as discreetly as she could, but Inuyasha caught her.

"Oi, wench, are you crying?" Inuyasha kept his voice low. By now they had reached the car, ignoring the stairs he kept getting from the people surrounding them.

Kagome turned her head away. "No! I just got something in my eye."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Sure you do." He agreed sarcastically. He sat her in the passenger seat of the car, once he had opened the doors and then told her what he really thought. "Kagome, I know you're upset about something. I can smell it."

Kagome's gaze returned to the floor. When she spoke, her voice was quiet and it trembled with the emotions she was trying to keep from coming out. "Where you hurt?"

" I told you, these wounds are nothing to what I've gotten be-"

"That's not what I meant." Kagome interjected. Slowly, she lifted her head to lock gazes with him. "I mean, did you hear what I said to Kouga?"

Inuyasha froze for a second and remembered the words she had said. Was she asking if his feelings been hurt? Was that why she was crying? He nodded, keeping her gaze.

Kagome sniffled. "I honestly didn't mean it, Inuyasha." The tears trickled down her cheeks and her voice trembled. "I really don't hate you anymore, honest!"

Inuyasha didn't know what to say. He felt elated that she didn't hate him anymore, but he was upset that she was crying for something so small. Slowly, as to not scare her or anything, he raised his hand to her face, wiping away a stray tear. Kagome was shocked at the skin contact, so much she couldn't speak.

Inuyasha spoke softly. "You don't have to apologize, Kagome. I understand."

For a moment, Kagome had this type of vision, or at least you could say it was a daydream. In it, Inuyasha wasn't just touching her face, he was holding her close. Arms around her, embracing her, his lips whispering sweet words in her ear. For a moment, she lost herself. She could actually believe it could happen, believe it could be true.

But then she came back to the present and realized that Inuyasha was no longer touching her face and he was waiting intently for her reply.

"Thank you." Was her simple reply. Inuyasha smiled and stood, closing the door for her and getting into the other side.

Kagome put on her seat belt and the daydream she had came floating into he mind again. What had she been thinking? Her and Inuyasha together? The odds of that were slim to none, at least, that's what she thought it was. Just because Inuyasha could say he could understand, didn't mean he necessarily had to like her. It was impossible. Inconceivable. Kagome closed her eyes, and focused her mind on the daydream.

She wouldn't let it fade away.

* * *

**A/N: Another update! Bet you guys were salivating for this one right?**

**So a semi-fluff I guess. What did you guys think? I want feedback! (But keep the flames to yourselves, please :] ) **

** Hurry and Review so that I can hurry and update :)**

**~Daichi**


	6. Close up and personal

**A/N: Thank you again for the wonderful reviews you guys keep sending me! I love them so you should keep them up! Now, there are some important things in the author's note on the bottom so please read it. Right now, you all have to read and review this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I'm an Inuyashaholic and I am a member of Inuyashism, (My friend Nightfalcon222 came up with it, so ask her if you want to join) but that doesn't make the characters mine. **

**Chapter 6: Close up and personal**

"Kagome, wake up."

Kagome was shaken from her sleep and was met by the flashing scenery at each side of her. She blinked a couple of times before re-positioning herself. Her neck was stiff and her head ached, but her stomach was what hurt her the most. She hissed out in pain as she moved and Inuyasha glanced at her with worry. "Are you okay, Kagome?"

Kagome shook her head. "For once, I'm not okay. I hurt all over."

Inuyasha kept his gaze level on the road. "We need to get you some medical help . . . but with no money, where?" He whispered the last part to himself, his forehead creasing in thought.

Kagome watched him worry over her. She subconsciously touched her face where Inuyasha had brushed with his fingers. The soft caress was light, almost like a feather, as if he had hesitated in doing it. She glanced at him once more and returned her eyes to the rushing trees outside the window.

What was she thinking? Kagome stared at nothing outside. She couldn't be having… thoughts about Inuyasha. Yes, she didn't hate him, but she couldn't like him that way so fast! Hatred was very present for most of her years of knowing him, so it made sense that she was shocked when he touched her face.

_It was probably just a part of the shock, _She thought to herself. _We have nothing in common and we're just . . . friends. That's it_.

Inuyasha suddenly spoke. "Kaede! That's where I'll take you!"

Kagome's head snapped up. "Who?"

Inuyasha glanced at her. "Kaede is an old woman I used to know… she has some medical experience, but it's a day's drive there. We have to call the S.S as well so they can send another car. I don't think this one is actually legal, since Kouga gave it to us. Either that or I'll just have to hot wire one."

"Inuyasha, that's still illegal. Why do you do all the illegal stuff now? "

Inuyasha chuckled and though he thought he was talking to himself, Kagome still heard his whisper. "I only do it for you."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "What did you say?"

Inuyasha spoke low."Nothing "

"Yes, you did. C'mon, say it."

"I didn't say anything, wench!"

Kagome frowned at being called wench and crossed her arms, turning away and determined to ignore Inuyasha.

Inuyasha caught the change in her mood and rolled his eyes. "Damn, Kagome, you take everything to much to heart." When she didn't say a thing, he continued. "We'll get something to eat and continue our way. Ok?"

Again, Kagome didn't talk back. Inuyasha sighed and shook his head.

"This is going to be a long ride."

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As presumed, it _was_ a long drive to Kaede's. Inuyasha was tired of being behind the wheel for so long. At least they would get breakfast soon. The sun was barely illuminating the sky, barely rising through the still darkened clouds. He glanced at the sleeping girl in his passenger seat.

Kagome was still upset with him and Inuyasha could take a gander at why. He had called her wench, and he knew she didn't like being called that. It had just slipped out; his brain had only been looking for the most familiar retort he had. He realized that he had probably used 'wench' as much as she used 'half-demon'

_But she apologized_, He thought. _The only one at fault here is me. I can at least tell her I'm sorry and maybe she'll talk to me again_.

He nodded to himself as he thought this. It was perfect! He would apologize and then maybe she would think he wasn't that bad at all and then maybe. . .

_Whoa, wrong path there. Kagome is OFF-LIMITS!_

He squeezed the steering wheel. He had to stop thinking about her that way. They were only friends . . . and they could only be friends. He glanced to the girl asleep in the passenger seat, her head slightly lolling to the side. He smiled softly at her and his mind began to go back to places and times.

Where had it all started? Where had the hate stemmed from? Could it have been something big or something trivial? He thought the last one would have been exactly what happed. He thought upon his fifteen year-old self and tried to remember the first day he has seen Kagome.

_I was practicing my punches when I smelled something new. Something like lavender and freesia. It smelled wonderful. I turned around to see a younger Kagome, watching me from outside. She had smiled and waved but then. . . _

A bump in the road broke his train of thought. He cursed under his breath. He had been so close to remembering. But why was it that he couldn't remember? The feelings of mutual dislike had been there, but where was the motive?

He sniffed the air, taking in Kagome's scent. She still smelled the same but sometimes it was different. Sometimes her shampoo tied in and sometimes . . . other scents that a dog demon could smell were mixed into it. But it was _her_ scent. He wanted to take a strand of her hair in his hand and feel the soft texture. . .

_And there I go again,_ he thought. _I can't ever keep my thoughts in check._

Inuyasha shook his head. "At least I'm better off than Miroku."

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"I wonder what happened to Inuyasha and Kagome?" Sango said, leaning on the door to her dorm. Miroku, who had accompanied her there, shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Hopefully, they're not strangling each other yet."

Sango sent a glare at Miroku. "I'm being serious, Miroku! We haven't heard from them at all, and with the car that we lent them turning up crashed under an unfinished highway. . . I'm afraid something happened to them."

Miroku nodded. "I know, but you can't lose hope. They're both great at surviving and I bet you they're already following a lead."

Sango, although still not convinced, nodded. "Well, at least we have that comfort."

"Yes, we do my dear." Miroku said, slyly moving his hand to forbidden territories. Sango caught the movement and slapped his hand away before he could touch her.

"If you don't keep your hands to yourself, I'll make sure you never have kids!"

Miroku cowered away. "I'm sorry! My hand is cursed."

Sango rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that bull."

Miroku looked like he was about to say something, when he suddenly sneezed. "Achoo!"

Sango tilted her head at him. "You know, they say when someone sneezes, it's because someone is talking about them."

Miroku sniffed. "Well, I hope they're talking about me kindly."

Sango laughed and walked away.

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Kagome woke up to the smell of something scrumptious. Despite how hurt her stomach was, it grumbled, signaling to her to get up and grab some of whatever smelled so good. She raised her head from the window and glanced up to see that Inuyasha had parked in the middle of nowhere and was choking down a cheeseburger.

Inuyasha stopped in the middle of his chewing and held out his burger. He swallowed the food in his mouth as fast as he could. "Want some?"

Kagome nodded, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Please."

Inuyasha nodded and grabbed the paper bag that held the food he had bought at a gas station. He had bough chips of every kind because he didn't know what kind she liked. He bought a couple of sodas too. He fished out a burger and gave it to her.

"Do you want fries with that, ma'am?"

Kagome laughed as she took the burger from Inuyasha's hand. "That was lame, Inuyasha."

"At least I made you laugh."

Kagome smiled, shaking her head. "Whatever."

Inuyasha smiled and then began to eat again, and it was silent for a few minutes. He wondered if Kagome was still mad at him, but he wasn't stupid enough to ask her.

Kagome ate in silence and realized she had talked to Inuyasha, despite that she was still upset with him. She bit another bit of her burger as she thought.

_Maybe I over-reacted . . . but I hate being called a wench! I thought he didn't hate me anymore. I guess he still does._

"Kagome?"

Kagome's head snapped up. "Huh?"

Inuyasha fidgeted a bit before finally murmuring, "I'm sorry."

Kagome swore to herself that she had not heard it. "What?"

"I said I'm sorry." He repeated, looking at her and not at the floor. Gosh, he hated having to repeat it twice. Once was hard, but twice. He watched Kagome, hoping he could be forgiven for what had happened.

Kagome was surprised as anyone could've been. She had never in her life heard Inuyasha apologize to her. A slow smile spread across her face as she realized something.

_He doesn't hate me._

"Kagome? Are you there?" Inuyasha waved a hand in her face. Kagome jumped, but nodded.

"Yes?"

Inuyasha looked at her apprehensively. "Am I forgiven?"

Kagome gave him a wider smile. "Yes, you are. Just don't let it happen again, okay?"

Inuyasha smiled. He felt tremendously better; it was like a weight had been taken off his shoulders. He finished his burger and started the car again.

"It won't be long now," He began, "I'm pretty sure we'll be there in an hour." Inuyasha pulled out onto a road again and smiled at the oncoming road.

At least Kagome forgave him

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"Is that a house or a mansion?"

Kagome stood in awe outside of a beautiful antique home. It was huge, with large windows and elegant designs on the outside. There was a flower garden in the front and the porch was a lovely sight. The house was yellow, and the tall sunflowers she could see from the backyard stood at attention.

The house was situated more into the country, and Kagome thought that it reminded her of a plantation home. She stepped forward, but her stomach protested as she felt she was being punched with a cinder block.

Inuyasha, who had been busy watching Kagome's reactions, caught her before she fell on her knees.

"Are you okay?"

Kagome nodded. "Yeah. Let's just get inside so she can take a look at me."

Inuyasha agreed with a slight bow of his head. He helped her up the steps of the porch and knocked on the door, rang the bell and did anything to make sure they would be heard.

The door slowly creaked open, showing a small boy with orange hair. His eyes widened and he opened the door more..

"Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha gave the kid a smile. "Hey Shippo. Is Kaede in?"

Shippo nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, come in and I'll call her!" The little boy bounded away and rushed up the stairs, leaving the door ajar. Inuyasha helped Kagome inside, lifting her by her hand. They entered into the living room and sat down on the old worn couch.

Shippo came back down hand-in-hand with an elderly woman, who had an eye-patch over her left eye. Her hair was held loosely and she had on a white shirt and casual slacks. Despite the intimidating accessory, the old woman smiled warmly at the duo.

"Inuyasha! It has been a long time. How are ye?" The old woman let go of Shippo's hand and sat down on the arm chair across of Inuyasha and Kagome.

"I've been fine, doing the usual. I actually came here to ask a favor."

Kaede glanced at him and then at Kagome. "Ah, I see. And what kind of favor do ye ask for?"

"I'm the one who needs the favor, actually." Kagome spoke up meekly. She glanced at Inuyasha and then turned her attention to Kaede. "My name is Kagome."

Kaede regarded her for a second, almost as if she could see right through her. Then she smiled; "Well, then. What can I do for ye?"

"Um, I got hurt in my stomach and the pain hasn't left." Kagome tried to stand, but she stumbled and fell on the couch again.

Kaede stood up and walked to Kagome. "Don't get up yet." She put her hands on Kagome's shoulder and pushed her back slightly. "I need ye to lie down." She gave Inuyasha a look. "And I'm going to need ye to leave the room."

Inuyasha sent an apprehensive look toward Kagome, but obeyed Kaede and left the living room, leaving the two woman by themselves.

"So is there anything wrong with me?" Kagome asked, letting Kaede examine her stomach. Kaede pressed a hand to her side and Kagome hissed form the pain.

"Ye might have a slight fracture to the rib. It hasn't swollen up, so that's good. A little bandaging and ye will be alright."

Kagome sighed and nodded. "Thank you."

Kaede smiled as she walked over to a drawer in one drawer tables she had in the room. "It's no problem, Kagome. Just the look on Inuyasha's face told me that it was serious." She pulled out some elastic bandages and metal clips and shuffled back to Kagome.

"Really?"

Kaede gave a light laugh as she began to bandage Kagome. "Yes, he seemed very distressed." With one last clip, Kaede finished. "Wait here. I'll be back with something else that might heal ye. I'll send Inuyasha back in."

Kagome nodded and watched Kaede leave and Inuyasha all but run inside again. "Are you okay?" He sat next to her

Kagome nodded, sitting up carefully. "Yeah. Kaede bandaged me up pretty good. It doesn't feel as bad as it did before."

"Well, I did always say Kaede had a healing touch." Inuyasha smiled, making Kagome slightly blush. It was nice to know that he was worried for her. She glanced at the doorway to the kitchen, listening to a tea pot whistle.

"How did you meet Kaede?"

Inuyasha settled into the couch, putting his around Kagome. She blushed, but Inuyasha didn't seem to notice.

"It was years ago, before you ever got to the S.S." He gave her a side-glance and continued. "My father died when I was still a baby and my mom had to work to pay the bills. Kaede was my nanny and since I used to get into a lot of accidents, she was my nurse too."

Kagome smiled, a warm feeling spreading inside her. "That sounds really nice."

Inuyasha smiled and turned to her. "Yeah it was."

Since he had turned toward her, they were closer. With Inuyasha's arm around her, Kagome felt a sudden jolt of electricity flow between them. She didn't know what it was, but suddenly she found that she could not look away from Inuyasha's captivating gold eyes. It seemed like they were coming closer, but she knew what was happening. The question was, did she want it to happen?

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**A/N: Mwahahaha! A VERY evil cliffy! What will happen to Inuyasha and Kagome? Will they really kiss? Review so find out in the next chapter! I love reviews, so it would be great to get some more!**

** And about the important things. I just got accepted into a HS where I get a lot of HW and I barely have any time to do that because I am in Theatre and we're doing a musical. Writing has taken a back seat, but I promise to keep writing!**

**~Daichi**


	7. Gardening and Ramen Noodles

**A/N: Daichi: OMIS, It's the chapter you have all been waiting for!**

**Ninja Daichi: Shut up and get this over with.**

**Daichi: *sigh* Oh, alright.**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah yeah. You get the drill. I don't own Inuyasha!**

**Chapter 7:**** Gardening and Ramen noodles**

Inuyasha didn't know what to do. Right now, looking at Kagome, he didn't know whether to follow his instinct or go back toward the rules. His mind was a jumbled mess and he couldn't think straight. They were so close now.

He could sense the confusion from Kagome and he was in sync with her. He didn't what to make of his feelings. But even like that, his head tread lower and lower until his lips barely hovered over hers..

Suddenly, Kaede burst in with the tea, whistling a tune.

Inuyasha and Kagome jumped apart twenty feet away, each one on either side of the couch. Kaede acted as if she didn't notice and set the tea pot down on a small table. She poured Kagome the hot liquid into a brown mug.

Kagome was blushing and looking away from Inuyasha. She didn't know what had happened. They had been so close to kissing and then. . .

_What am I thinking?_ Kagome thought. _It's__ ridiculous!_

"Kagome, here ye go." Kaede gave her the mug and Kagome hesitantly drank it. Almost instantly, she felt the pain go away. And the drink wasn't half bad either. She downed the mug and set it back down. She smiled as she felt the warmness spread through her.

"That was great, Kaede. What is it?"

Kaede thought for a minute. "Birch bark, some herbal plants I keep and honey. It always does the trick." She smiled at Kagome.

Inuyasha, despite being red from the very close encounter of kissing Kagome, remembered the other important reasons they had even come here in the first place.

"Kaede, could I use your phone?"

She nodded and got up to retrieve her cordless phone. Once she did, she gave it to Inuyasha. He got up and shut himself in the spare room across the hallway.. He marked the number he knew would pick up. It only rang once.

"Hello?"

He smiled. "Hey Sango. It's me, Inuyasha."

There was a small pause in which Sango burst out. "Inuyasha, is that really you? Are you okay? More importantly, is Kagome okay? You're not fighting right? What happened—"

"Whoa! Slow down Sango. We're okay, don't worry. No we're not fighting right now. We're at a house of a old woman I know."

He heard Sango sigh in relief. "Good. I'm just glad you were able to contact us." She spoke in plural, and Inuyasha had no doubt that Miroku was with her. "Anyway, what do you have to report?"

Inuyasha glanced back at the door, where he could picture Kagome and Kaede sitting. "Well, we do have one lead. We haven't been able to act on it yet. We were in a lot of danger and Kagome was hurt. We postponed looking for our lead until she felt better."

Sango gasped. "She got hurt and you didn't tell me when I asked you? Who did it and what happened?" Inuyasha ignored the instinct to roll his eyes, because he knew that she cared for Kagome, something he hadn't been able to accomplish until a couple of days ago.

He retold the tale of Kagome's undercover work and how it ended badly. Sango listened and quietly gave a "hmm" at certain points of the story. Inuyasha was a little unsettled by the strange calmness that the usually fiery Sango never possessed.

"It's settled," She spoke up. "I'm going to kill Naraku."

Inuyasha couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, but not before we figure out if he has the chip or not."

"Fine."

"And another thing. Can you send us a car and some equipment for us? The car you guys gave me was totaled and all the gadgets were in there. I have a feeling we're going to need them.

"'course."

Through the phone, Inuyasha could faintly hear the clicking of typing from the keyboard. "There," Sango said, obviously satisfied with her work. "I pinpointed your location by that phone. It'll be there by the end of the day."

"Good. I don't want to trouble the old woman here too much. At least she's enjoying the female company."

Sango laughed. "Well, you make sure you send my regards to Kagome. Tell her that she needs to work on her acting skills too. By the sound of what she attempted to do, she's gonna need practice."

Inuyasha didn't bother to mention he had almost believed her acting. "Sure, I'll pass it on."

"Great." There was a pause and then Sango continued. "Miroku says that when you get the new car, to call him with the blue tooth set he's gonna put in."

"Will do."

"Bye then." The phone went silent as Sango hung up. Inuyasha lowered the phone and sighed. He really needed to relieve some of the stress he had. Maybe doing something that didn't involve his job would work. He quickly walked out the room had been in and back into the living room where Kaede and Kagome were laughing.

"After that, the child pulled down his pants and yelled—"

Kaede caught Inuyasha's shocked expression. "Oh, Inuyasha. I was just talking to Kagome. She's very good at making conversation."

Kagome giggled. "And Kaede, she tells the funniest stories about you!" Another fit of giggles assaulted her.

Inuyasha paled and was embarrassed. What had Kaede already spilled about his most embarrassing moments? "What did she tell you?

Kagome stifled her laughter without success. "Are you still having problems using your wee-wee?" Kagome couldn't contain herself and started to laugh harder. Her stomach didn't hurt anymore and laughing was refreshing.

Inuyasha went red. "S-she told you that?"

Kaede nodded. "Ye were so cute back then."

He groaned and fell down onto a chair that was near.

Kagome eventually stopped laughing and turned to Inuyasha. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha, it was just so funny seeing your face. I didn't really mean to be mean."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and grumbled a little bit to himself. But since, he had to tell her what their plans were, he had to talk to her.

"I called Sango and we're getting a car later today."

Kagome perked up. "Really? That's great! Then we can get started on our lead." Inuyasha smiled as she smiled. "And Sango also left a message for you."

"What did she say?"

Inuyasha sat up straighter. "She said, and I quote, 'Tell her that she needs to work on her acting skills.'"

Kagome looked at him in confusion. "Why would she say that?"

"I told her about the Kouga thing."

Kagome narrowed her eyes at him. "You didn't."

Inuyasha smirked. Teasing Kagome was more than he thought. "I sure did."

Kagome groaned and pouted. "And what else did you tell her?"

Inuyasha shrugged, pretending to be innocent of all charges. "That was it."

Kagome eyed him as if she didn't believe him but she still nodded. "Okay, if you say so."

There was a sudden silence that seemed to have crept in slowly. The only sound was the clinking of cups. The clock ticked away the seconds.

Suddenly, a flash of orange came blurring through the room. It passed Kaede's seat and right into Kagome's lap.

Shippo laughed at the startled expression Kagome wore. "Hi!"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the little tyke. "You're too fast for your own good." He bent over and ruffled the kid's hair. "You scared the snot out of poor Kagome."

Kagome's cheeks reddened and her voice took on a defensive tone. "I did not!" She moved Shippo almost instinctively in her lap, so that he sat better.

. Kaede laughed. "Oh, ye two are very funny." She stood up and then paused as she took up the teapot again. "If ye two aren't busy, I do need some help in my garden. I use a lot of herbs and I grow them myself. Some are ready to pick."

Inuyasha stood up, placing his cup on the table. "Well, I've been itching to get a break from all the crap that's been happening, so I'll be glad to help.

Kagome stood up as well. "The least I can do for your cure is to help with some or your chores. Where do I start?"

Kaede smiled and then sighed. "Thank ye both for the help. I must admit, this old body can't do much anymore and since Shippo's so young, it's hard to keep him in check and clean the house."

Kagome waved her off. "No need to thank us, Kaede. We're just doing our duty." She gave her a big smile and walked over and wrapped her arms around Kaede. At first, Kaede was still with surprise, but then a warm smile spread on her face as she embraced Kagome.

"But that is exactly why I thank ye."

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"Finally done!" Kagome wiped her brow clean of the sweat that was trickling down. She stretched and she swore she heard her spine crack while she did. "Who knew Kaede had so much work to do?"

"Yeah, well," Inuyasha sighed, plopping down on the floor next to Kagome. "I don't blame her. If I had to do all this, I wouldn't even lift a finger." He indicated to the three baskets full of herbs and another basket full of weeds. Kagome and Inuyasha had decided to tackle the garden before doing any of the housework, but it had taken them until an hour after noon to finish it completely.

"I thought maybe we'd had to pull a couple of weeds and pull out, hmm, I don't know, half a basket of plants?" he laughed in spite of himself. "Who knew she hadn't touched this garden for years!"

Kagome swatted his arm. "Don't be silly, Inuyasha. Kaede doesn't get a lot of help around here, you know."

Inuyasha laid down on the perfectly green grass. "I can sure tell as much."

Kagome glanced at him as he smiled at her, but turned away quickly when she felt the heat rising in her face. _This is ridiculous! No amount of questionable looks or smiles means they'll amount to anything. GET A GRIP, KAGOME!_ Kagome shook her head and stood up.

"Uh...I'll go ask if Kaede needs any more help."

Without waiting for a response, Kagome skipped away back inside the house. Once inside she smacked her forehead for good measure. The words _stupid, stupid, stupid! _kept resonating in her head. Why couldn't she get Inuyasha out of her head for good?

"Kagome, are ye alright?"

Kagome jumped about half a mile when Kaede suddenly appeared, another cup of tea in her hand. Embarrassed, she tried to wave her away. "Oh, the heat's finally getting to me! I just came in to…fan myself!" Kagome grabbed a piece of paper lying around and started to fan herself weakly with it, but she knew Kaede wouldn't buy it.

Kaede laughed, a certain gleam in her eye. "Oh, it's the heat is it? Well, I must say ye take it very well." With light laughter, she walked away.

Kagome sighed and sat down on a chair that had been calling to her since she had decided to come back. She was currently in the kitchen, looking at the old-fashioned stove and suddenly realizing she was hungry.

But just as she had decided to get up, someone else with a huge appetite waltzed in.

"Man, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. Yo Kaede! Where's the ramen you usually have?" Inuyasha called out. Kagome noticed he seemed much more at home now than before. Kagome chalked it with the fact that he probably spent a lot of his childhood here. A faint smile graced Kagome's lips as she thought of a smaller Inuyasha, running around with his hair flying lazily in the wind. . .

"Hey, Kagome, are you okay?"

Kagome jumped when she realized Inuyasha was standing right in front of her. She was caught off guard by his eyes but she quickly blinked and stood up.

"I'm great!" She laughed nervously, squeezing herself out of the little space she had. "I'll just go clean the bathroom."

Inuyasha looked as if he wanted to ask her more, but she crossed her fingers behind her back.

Inuyasha turned away and shrugged. "Alright then. We'll talk later."

Kagome nodded and ran out the kitchen into the living room and then took the stairs to the bathroom upstairs. She ignored the cleaning supplies at the foot of the door and ran inside, locking the door behind her.

She slumped to the floor. Her hear t was beating a hundred miles per hour. Her cheeks were flushed as she stood up to look at herself in the mirror. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She was being crazy.

'_We'll talk later.'_

Why did that phrase make her heart soar?

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Inuyasha watched from the corner of his eye as Kagome ran put the kitchen. He sat down in the same chair she had been sitting in. He sighed and leaned back onto the chair. He had seen Kagome with a soft smile, something that he never knew could make her any more beautiful. There was a soft twinkle in her eye, as if she was thinking about something tender.

_She was pretty flustered when I tried to talk to her… I guess it was something private._ He shrugged to himself and pulled himself up, walking to the kitchen cabinet and taking some of the instant noodles. His hands were busy, but his mind was not.

He couldn't get Kagome's smile out of his head. He hadn't seen such a pretty smile on her. _Yeah, maybe I didn't see it because we fought so much . . . but I can't believe I've lived my life without seeing that kind of smile__ on her face._

He watched as the water boiled and then put the instant noodles in it. Then, he suddenly thought of something and acted on it.

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About fifteen minutes later, Kagome came down, planning on getting something to eat before she finished the bathroom. She had already cleaned the floor and the mirror, so the toilet and bathtub were next. She needed _something_ to keep her going.

When she finally came down, there was a plate of still-warm ramen noodles and a little note beside it. Kagome picked it up, thinking it was a list of more things to do.

_Dear Kagome._

_Well, that's was lame. I'm sorry. I left you some ramen, just in case you wanted some. I'm not really a great cook—but whatever. I… thought of you when I made it._

Kagome smiled as she folded the note and stuck it in her pocket. She pulled out a chair, sat down and grabbed the fork that had been placed by the bowl. She gingerly curled some noodles around the fork and placed them in her mouth.

She had never tasted ramen _this_ good.

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**A/N: Wow! I finally got this chapter out! I know, I suck for not posting it sooner, but I have not had any time at all! I get home from school, sit down and start my homework and my projects, which take me from three-thirty to nine thirty or later. I am NOT exaggerating. These teachers act as if it's only their class you're taking and they give boatloads of work. It'****s**** the cycle of doom. My doom. **

**But on the good note, I said to myself, "I will finish this chapter!" so I took some time ****out of my math HW time and wrote.**

** Well, back to the story line. I wrote something in here that I want you guys to get the significance of****. You guys probably will, because I believe you guys are smart. (You'd have to be to understand my weird ramblings, lol)**

** PLEASE REVIEW!**

**-Daichi **


	8. Backfiring plans

**A/N: So it's been a while since the last chapter, I know. I wish I had the time to update weekly (or at least monthly) but school has me in knots. Plus, I've been having a slight writer's block for this story. So, yeah. Why don't you just scroll down and read?**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha. Even if I begged.**

**Chapter 8: Back-firing plans**

After finally finishing the whole house, Kagome and Inuyasha sat down in the living room. All the hard work exhausted them, leaving no energy to be embarrassed in each other's company. Kaede appeared, holding two glasses of water.

"Here is some water for both of ye. Thank you for helping an old woman like me." she smiled, handing each one a glass.

Kagome took a sip while Inuyasha downed his. "There's no problem." Kagome smiled. "We were just doing what any other person would do."

Inuyasha sighed as he set down the glass. "Yeah. Besides, you were there for me many times. I just returned the favor." He sat up and folded his hands together. A soft smile crept onto Kagome's face. She was touched the Inuyasha would do that for someone. He wasn't as bad as she used to think.

Suddenly, a honk was heard outside. Kaede walked to the window, but just as she was about to pull the curtain back, Inuyasha stopped her.

"We'll check, alright? Just stay here for a minute." He motioned to Kagome to follow him and she did. He opened the door cautiously, but to their surprise, a car with no driver was in the driveway. Kagome ran up to it before Inuyasha could say a thing, and opened the door. She called to Inuyasha quickly.

"It's from Miroku." She pointed to a small computer screen with a note. "All it says is, 'Here's the stuff that I promised you.'" She smiled as she touched the upholstery of the car. "He sure sent us a nice car."

Inuyasha smiled. "Of course he did. We're on the most important mission for the S.S"

Kagome shrugged. "I guess."

"Want to check it out?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "I thought you'd never say that." She slipped inside into the driver's seat, taking a look around her. "Wow! Everything in here is state-of-the-art!" She pressed a couple of buttons, which made the car roar back to life. "It's even touch-activated!"

Inuyasha laughed and leaned away. Kagome looked like a kid who had just got locked in a candy store. Inuyasha would never understand why she was so excited, but it was entertaining for him. He glanced back at Kaede's house and saw her standing outside, hesitant. He gave her a thumbs up and she gave him a nod, disappearing into the house again.

"Kagome, we'll have to leave soon. We can't spend too much time here or else someone will track us down here."

Kagome frowned. "It'll be hard leaving Kaede. It's only been a day, but I feel like I've known her forever."

Inuyasha sighed. "I'll go tell her we're leaving. Have the car ready when I come back."

Kagome nodded and began to press a series of buttons as Inuyasha walked backed into the house. She turned on the switch for the computer screen, setting up the GPS system that was on it. She took a mental note of all the buttons she had pressed and their uses. She'd explore all the other buttons later. By the time Inuyasha came back, Kagome had the car up and running to perfection.

"Kaede said to give you this." He threw her a bag that clanked a bit. "She said to open it later though, when we were out of sight."

Kagome raised an eyebrow, but didn't question Kaede's wisdom. She threw the bag to the car floor and pulled down the visor to block the sun out, when suddenly another piece of paper fell out. Kagome snatched it up and realized it was a series of numbers.

Inuyasha glanced at Kagome as they started driving up the road. "What's that?"

Kagome didn't answer. Instead, she turned on the computer screen and pressed a button that took her to a number pad. Kagome pushed all the numbers in their sequence and waited.

"Kagome? I'm still waiting for a response!"

Kagome glared at him slightly, making Inuyasha deflate a bit. "Just wait."

Just as she finished her sentence, the computer screen lit up, this time with Miroku smiling from it.

"It's about time you guys called. We've been waiting for a whole hour. So how's the new car?"

Kagome smiled, answering. "It's great! I've never seen such a high-tech car. Not even our last one was this cool."

Miroku grinned. "That's because this is a one-of-kind made vehicle. Sango and I built it. It's a prototype, but it's still awesome."

Inuyasha cut in, his voice slightly annoyed. "Can we just get to the important part? I need you to look something up for me."

Miroku sighed. "Geez, hold your horses, Inuyasha." The screen showed him typing away at the computer in front of him. "What do you want me to search?"

"Naraku Onigumo, together and separately, just in case."

Miroku typed quickly and glanced up at Inuyasha. "Well, there's nothing on a Naraku, but there is one for the Onigumo guy."

"Spill." Kagome crossed her arms, a professional tone taking up her voice.

"He's the executive owner of some tech company. It says that they sell. . ." Miroku paused before reading the rest, a look of shock creeping onto his face. ". . . computer chips and software."

Inuyasha nodded. "Can you give us a blueprint of the building he works in? Or maybe his house?"

Miroku grinned. "Thought you'd never ask. The blueprints will be going to you, Kagome, through the visor. They're mini-sized, so you can put it in the purse that Sango threw into the trunk."

As Kagome grabbed the papers, Inuyasha frowned. "Why does she get the blueprints?"

Miroku didn't even raise his eyes from the computer screen. "Because she's the smart one. Duh."

Inuyasha growled in annoyance and Kagome laughed out loud. _It's true though, _Kagome thought,_ I am the smarter one here. _Kagome scanned the blueprints quietly, her eyes taking everything in. "Miroku? We need the exact location of both places. Could you send the coordinates to the car?"

"Already done."

Kagome smiled. "Well, thanks Miroku! Send Sango my regards."

Miroku opened his mouth, but suddenly a pair of arms pushed him out of range of the computer screen. Instead, Sango appeared and wiped her hands on her jeans. "Perverts. Nature's failures." She then glanced at the screen and wiggled her fingers sweetly at us. "Hey, you guys! How's the new car handling?"

Inuyasha and Kagome glanced at each other, gulping. Kagome tried to smile back at Sango. "It's great. Miroku says you guys built it."

Sango rolled her eyes. "Ha! I built the whole thing from scratch. Damn lech, always taking the credit. He would have never figured out how to calibrate the motor if I hadn't done it for him." She sighed, sitting down where Miroku had been moments before. He was still on the floor, unable to gather enough strength to actually sit up. Sango crossed her legs and glanced at the computer screen. "I see you have a lead. I suggest infiltrating as soon as you can. The longer we don't have the chip, the worse it will be for — for the love of God, Miroku!" She abruptly yelled, jumping up from her seat, making Inuyasha and Kagome wince. Miroku had groped her once again, taking advantage of his position.

Inuyasha groaned. "Ugh, Miroku, please do that somewhere else."

Sango glanced up as she pounded Miroku with her boot, smiling dangerously sweet and sending chills down her friends' backs. "I think we'll leave you two go on from here without our interference. Miroku here," Another nasty gurgling sound was heard from the floor, "will be out of commission for a while. Bye!"

The screen went blank and so did the expressions on the two agents' faces. Kagome reacted first and said, "Well, I guess we have to go on from here right, Inuyasha?" She then tapped him when he didn't respond. "Inuyasha? Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha shivered involuntarily. "I am so glad I'm not Miroku right now."

Kagome huffed. "Well, at least I don't react like Sango. Thank God for that, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha grunted. "Whatever. Just pull up the coordinates of the company building and we'll let the car do its thing."

"Alright, then." Kagome was about to touch the computer screen when a she bumped the armrest of her seat. To her and Inuyasha's surprise, a small, thin keyboard popped out, settling right in front of her. At the same moment, the glove compartment opened, sending a holographic image that served as the computer screen. Kagome raised an eyebrow, a grin spreading across her face.

"I love Sango and Miroku."

Inuyasha tapped the side of his armrest as Kagome punched in the coordinates into the GPS system of the car. Unfortunately nothing came out, and he frowned.

He shook his head as the GPS system gave him the order to turn right and muttered darkly under his breath, "You always get the cool stuff."

Kagome smiled, but didn't laugh. She thought she would spare Inuyasha the humiliation of once again being called the dumber of the two, but really, there was just no competition. It was what he was all about wasn't it? Huge muscles, small brain. Or at least that what's she used to think about him. Was he any different now? Maybe. He had thought of somewhere to take her quickly, instead of dawdling. Was she making something out of nothing? She shook her head and concentrated on the holographic screen in front of her. She needed to devise a plan to get them in the building, which would mean that she would have to find the most protected place there. No doubt that that would be the place where the chip, or information about it, would be.

Inuyasha sighed and glanced at Kagome, typing away on her keyboard as swift as the wind. Once, he would have thought the sound annoying and unsupportable and his thoughts about Kagome wouldn't have been so kind. Through this whole ordeal, he'd been seeing everything a little more differently. Even Kagome seemed a lot more different than the snobby-uppity girl he had made her out to be in his own mind. She was even nice to him, despite everything he'd done to her. He gripped the wheel a little harder and tried to concentrate on the road ahead of him.

For the life of him, he wished he could remember what had happened to make him hate her so much.

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"So this is the plan," Kagome glanced at Inuyasha, finally lifting her eyes from the computer screen. "The building's pretty hard to hack into, but it's nothing I can't tackle." She cracked her fingers to emphasize. "There hasn't been a code made yet that I haven't been able to solve!"

Inuyasha sighed, relieved that she was finally talking. They had spent a couple of hours just sitting in front of the building's entrance, and frankly, he was already going insane in the silence. He listened intently to what she would say next, since he knew it would entail his part of the deal. "You will have to get in once the security systems are down, but I can't guarantee you lots of time. A place like this will figure out that someone's hacked in within the quarter hour, but I think fifteen minutes will be enough for you to grab the information I found out about."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "What information are you talking about?"

"There's a vault here," She jabbed a thumb at building. "That contains a blueprint for a destruction ray, which coincidentally needs highly sophisticated software like the chip to work."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "And why hasn't the government done anything? I thought they were supposed to keep these things under their control or some crap like that."

Kagome shrugged. "Beats me. They're probably paying the government officials or something." She sighed. "Or maybe they just don't have any idea."

Inuyasha sighed. "Well, we better get going to a hotel. We need to plan this for tonight, if you're up to the challenge?"

Kagome laughed. "Of course! There hasn't been a code or system I couldn't break!"

Inuyasha chuckled to himself. Kagome could be so full of herself sometimes, but she looked so cute when she did it.

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The plan was simple. Break into the system, get in, grab the information and get out.

So why was it being so hard to do? Well, when you have two polar opposites working together, not much can be done. This was Kagome was thinking as she huffed and crossed her arms.

"You can't expect to do this without my help now do you?" Kagome growled, watching as Inuyasha got ready for the mission. Dressing in a full black suit, Inuyasha pulled the cloth over his hair making sure that no silver strand could be seen.

"You _are _helping," Inuyasha mumbled, glancing at the mirror. "You're getting me in, aren't you?"

Kagome sighed. "Yeah, I am, but I don't think you should go in without back up. Even if my real talent lies in technology, I can still climb walls. Besides," she rushed to his side, "What if something goes off in the building and you don't know what to do? There are bound to be some other type of security measurements apart from the cameras and stuff."

Inuyasha gave Kagome a look. "And that's exactly why you can just wait outside. If something does go off, one of us still has to be able to complete the mission." Kagome opened her mouth, but Inuyasha cut her off. "I'm pretty sure there's some other stuff in there too, but what's the point of risking our necks if we both get caught? Why'd you think they put us in a pair? If one of us . . . fails, I guess . . . the other has to keep going." Inuyasha sighed and faced Kagome, the distance between them almost too close. "Who better to keep going than you?"

Kagome blushed as she realized that Inuyasha was giving her an off-hand compliment. "But what do you mean fail? You can do it . . . I believe in you."

Inuyasha smiled slightly, but in reality he was a having a party inside his mind, which at the same time infuriated him. He could see the foreboding cover of the spy handbook once more, but he shook his head. "Thanks, but there's always that chance. Even if a man with strength like mine can make a mistake."

Kagome rolled her eyes, her moment of concern over. "Tooting you own horn, like always. Anyway," She crossed her arms again and turned away from him. Inuyasha noticed that she did that whenever she was bothered or wanted to put a barrier between them. He found that he didn't like it. Without really thinking, he turned her around, pulling her into his arms in an embrace. Kagome was stunned into silence as Inuyasha hugged her. His voice was soft and sincere as he whispered,

"I don't want you to get hurt, ok? So . . . just wait for me."

Kagome was confused when her heart sped at hearing those words from him. She gulped and nodded, not trusting her voice. He let her go and the atmosphere changed slightly. Kagome was silent as she gathered her things for the mission. Inuyasha has used some the money he had found under the seat of the car to buy her a small, compact computer. She had really liked it and was eager to test it out.

They arrived precisely on time. The guards were already at their posts and all the workers were already gone. Kagome handed Inuyasha a copy of the blue-print to the building. "I'll be giving you instructions through the headset using that as a reference," Kagome locked eyes with him and sighed, turning away. "Be careful."

Inuyasha smiled softly. "I will." He turned and disappeared into the darkness towards the building. Kagome sighed, pushing the little keyboard back into the armrest for a second. She didn't know what she had just said that. Why was her stomach doing flips at the thought of his smile? Even now, the only thing she could think of was if he was safe, if he was being stupid if he wasn't . . .

Kagome groaned. She had it bad.

Since she didn't want to consider the idea anymore, she pulled out the keyboard again, just as Inuyasha's voice came through her earpiece of the headset. _"Alright, I'm in position. Tell me when to go."_

Kagome gulped and tried to sound business-like. "I'm hacking into the system right now," The whisking of keystrokes made Kagome feel more in control, more comfortable. Her brow furrowed slightly as she glanced at the computer screen, cracking security codes and putting the alarms systems down. It only took about five minutes. "There! You have exactly fifteen minutes until the defenses come up. Good luck"

Inuyasha breathed a sigh of relief once he heard Kagome's voice. The whole time she was quiet made him uneasy. He remembered the way he had held her earlier today, and he wanted to scold himself, but another part of him was just too darn freakin' happy that it had happened. Inuyasha shook his head as he slipped in through the window, and landed soundlessly on his feet. He didn't need to ask Kagome where to go because her voice came through once again.

"_Inuyasha,_" She whispered in that serene voice she could conjure up during stressful situations. "_Look at your blueprint and follow the path that I highlighted green. It'll lead you to the safe room."_

Inuyasha nodded to himself and was about to start walking when Kagome spoke again, "_Inuyasha . . . I—never mind. Just keep walking."_

Inuyasha wondered what she had been going to say but he couldn't think of that now. He carefully went through the halls, expecting some type of trap, but nothing came. It didn't take him long to get to the vault. He put in the code Kagome had given him earlier and the vault opened. Taking the top off a weird-looking spray can, he sprayed the room to reveal the red sensor lines crisscrossed around the room.

Inuyasha somehow felt uneasy as she acrobatically whisked through the room. He grabbed the information and was back out the vault. Again, his stomach did that lurching thing again. He spoke into the headset. "Kagome, don't you think this was too easy?"

Kagome responded. "_It does feel that way, but don't jinx it! Get out of there quick."_

Inuyasha nodded to himself and began stealthily making his way through. He scanned the area for anything suspicious, but it was quiet.

Too quiet.

Suddenly, a battle cry was heard from behind and Inuyasha was pushed to the floor. He quickly stood and faced his attacker.

Inuyasha groaned. "Ninjas? Of all things, ninjas?" He aimed a kick at the black-clothed man, but the ninja dodged it. Inuyasha tried again, but noticed that there were more than five trying to get him. "So you guys want to cheat? Fine, we'll all cheat."

Inuyasha only had to crack his knuckles and smirk to get started.

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Kagome heard Inuyasha complaining about ninjas and quickly zeroed in through the security cameras she had hacked into. There were about five or more trying to land a hit on him, but with his quick reflexes, not to mention his super-human speed and strength, he wasn't having a hard time. Kagome sighed, knowing that he would win. She hadn't even given a thought that maybe she should have been worrying about herself as well.

There was a knock on one of the windows and suddenly, she realized that she was surrounded by ninjas. Kagome panicked and locked all the doors and hit a couple of buttons on the dashboard. The car was also geared with protective operations, like the metal shield that placed itself around the car. She could hear the ninjas outside trying to break it, but Kagome was pretty sure Sango had used titanium when building it.

She yelled into the receiver as she watched Inuyasha take down the last ninja. "Inuyasha get out of there! I'm surrounded by ninjas, but I implemented the safe-guards of the car."

_"I'm on my way."_

Kagome prayed that he would make it. She tried to follow him on the cameras, but the screen shot off all of a sudden. All the function of the car stopped, including the safe-guards. The metal shields retracted to leave Kagome exposed. Her face paled when she saw Naraku standing outside her door.

"Inuyasha, help!"

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**A/N: Ok you guys, please tell me whether you liked the chapter! I want feedback on any kind! Tell what you liked, what you loved or adored. Oh, and the moment of him hugging her was supposed to be like the times he would randomly hug Kagome in the series. I was trying to convey the same softness and hesitance. Review!**

** ~Daichi**


	9. Captured

** A/N: It's been long since the last time I wrote, huh? Well, I'm glad you guys reviewed so much! I was very happy to see those nice, encouraging reviews! To every person who reviewed last chapter, thanks and consider this chapter dedicated to you!**

** Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or anything else. Or do I? Jk! **

**Chapter 9: Captured**

Inuyasha heard Kagome's plea through the receiver. He picked up his pace, but the stupid ninjas weren't letting him get by. He could hear her labored breathing, but somehow also knew that he wouldn't make it. But, he had to, even if it took a limb to get there.

"Damn all of you to hell!" He yelled, punching one Ninja in the stomach, elbowing the one behind him and giving a swift kick the Ninja who thought nun-chucks were still in style. Although he had fun kicking ass, his priority was to get to Kagome. More ninjas appeared, almost as if they were responding to his thoughts and telling him that they weren't going to let him make it all the way to Kagome.

Knowing that just fighting them would take too long, he prepared to run through the lot. He was quick and he'd punch the ninjas that were in his way. He took a second to turn and gave it his all running. Sure enough, some of the ninjas fell as he passed by.

He hoped nothing had happened yet, at least nothing to compromise Kagome. _Just hold on, Kagome!_

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Kagome knew that she only had seconds to get away. Even as the door unlocked, she lunged to the backseat, hoping to get there and find something useful to defend herself, but she feeling someone pulling her by her legs. She managed to grab the bag that Kaede had given her as they pulled her out, kicking and screaming.

She struggled with her captors and tried some defensive moves that she had been taught, but seeing as she was tied, she couldn't use the Karate skills that had been embedded into her. She ground her teeth as they pinned her hands behind her, effectively ending her struggle. She glared at Naraku and, if looks could kill, he would have been on his back in seconds.

"Naraku." She hissed, only earning a laugh from the long-haired man.

"It seems you're a lot more feisty than I thought." He laughed again. "No matter. You will give me what I want."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I don't have the chip." She glared even more daggers at Naraku. "You're the one who stole it!"

Naraku only grimly smiled. "Yes, I do have the chip but I lack the codes to program it."

Kagome tried to not look startled. "So? What does that have to do with me?"

"Don't play dumb, girl!" Naraku hissed, moving closer to Kagome in a threatening manner. "You might think that it'll be easy to fool me, but I've heard about you and the agency you work for." He composed himself, stopping his approach to Kagome as his goons held her. "And I've also heard your role concerning the chip."

Kagome gulped. "What?"

"Yes, it's true. I would be glad to kill you right here and now, my dear, but I need you for now." He tipped her chin up with his index finger. "You'll do as I say, do you hear?"

Shaking her head away from his touch, she bit back, "When hell freezes over!"

Naraku only turned away and signaled for his men to move her into the black van, when suddenly someone with silver hair appeared from the building.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, trying his best to run.

Hearing Inuyasha's voice re-fueled Kagome's determination. "Inuyasha!" She shouted. The bag that Kaede had given her was still in her hand, and she maneuvered it to hit the man in the face. He yelped and loosened his hold on Kagome, which she took advantage of and wiggled herself free.

Naraku pointed to Kagome. "Get her!"

Kagome ran to Inuyasha as fast as she could, but his speed met her half-way. "Inuyasha!" she shouted, throwing herself at him and hugging him.

Inuyasha sighed. "Sorry for being late, Kagome. Damn ninjas were keeping me busy." He hugged back. He looked up to see Naraku's goons hot on their trail. Knowing that running would be out of the question, he pushed Kagome behind him. "Time to kick some serious ass!"

Inuyasha threw his punches with precision and skill. They came everywhere, from behind to the side and yet they still couldn't pin him down. His kicks sent them flying, and though he wanted to finish the job, her hovered around Kagome to keep her safe. One goon lunged for Kagome, but Inuyasha kneed him in the stomach.

"This ends now!" He heard Naraku shout. He turned around to see Naraku holding a gun. Inuyasha was about to scoff at him about how bullets weren't really going to affect him like a regular human, when he pulled the trigger and shot him.

Only these weren't bullets. Inuyasha fell on his knees, already feeling the effect of the tranquilizers. He damned everything he could think of.

"Hey! Let me go, dammit!" Kagome yelled, just as Naraku grabbed her. She kicked him and struggled, but Naraku thrust another tranquilizer in her arm. She hissed in pain, but slumped over in seconds.

"Kagome," Inuyasha whispered, reaching out to her. He desperately wanted to help, but he could feel his eyes closing. _How many damn tranquilizers did he use? _He thought uselessly. It didn't matter because in a couple of seconds he'd be down under.

_Damn, damn, damn! I couldn't even save her . . ._

That was his last thought before his eyes closed completely.

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Inuyasha cracked his eyes open, for a second not remembering where he was or what had happened to him. He sat up and rubbed his head, wincing slightly. It was dark, but his eyesight was keen enough to make out the screech marks of tires just ahead in front of him.

He stood up immediately, suddenly remembering what had happened. He ran to the car and tried to turn it on. After many failed attempts he finally figured it out. Once it turned on, the computer screen on the dashboard lit up, revealing a concerned Miroku and a frenzied Sango.

"What happened?" demanded Miroku. Sango could be seen muttering to herself an pacing behind Miroku. "We got a signal that the defense shields were put up and then the car was suddenly off radar, like someone has used some type of cloaking device!"

Inuyasha sighed. "They took Kagome."

"WHAT?"

Sango suddenly flew from behind Miroku to his his chair in less than a minute. Miroku didn't even have time to brace himself as he fell onto the floor.

"There were ninjas, and then the shooting and . . . oh god, they have Kagome." Inuyasha's head hit the steering wheel, the honk sounding loudly as it finally really hit him.

Sango shook her head. "No, no, no,no! Inuyasha, this is NOT GOOD!" She wailed, at the same time being exhausting angry. Miroku finally pulled himself up to see Inuyasha from the screen.

"What exactly happened?"

Inuyasha tried to make sense of what had occurred in the last few hours. "Kagome and I came to the business building in hopes of finding the chip here or at least a clue to where it might be. Kagome wanted to come with me, but I had told her that she couldn't because there was to much danger. Damn," he added, "I should have let her go with me."

"Inuyasha . . ."

"Sorry!" He exclaimed. "When I had gathered the information, I tried to get out but this whole group of ninjas appeared from nowhere. Kagome said through the speaker that she was in trouble so I tried hurrying up, but I didn't make it. Well, I did, but they used some high end tranquilizers on me." He sighed and let his face fall into his hands. "I couldn't save her."

Miroku sighed. "Inuyasha, it's alright. We—"

Sango burst in. "it's not alright, Miroku. Kagome is being held hostage and is probably being probed and tortured about information on the chip!"

"Kagome knows something about the chip?" Inuyasha asked, raising an eyebrow. Miroku and Sango glanced at each other.

Sango sighed, making Miroku get out of his seat so she could plop down in it instead. Crossing her arms she said, "Kagome is the smartest agent we have at the S.S. At the beginning of the project Shikon Chip, we knew that we needed someone more intelligent than anyone could hire. That was when the S.S brought her in. We were still in training, but since we were the ones that were going to succeed the officials in charge of the operation, we were involved as well."

"But what does she have to do with the chip?"

Sango sighed. "Well, Kagome is the only one who knows how to program it and deprogram it. She was the one who built the chip."

Inuyasha's jaw dropped. Kagome was the maker of the chip? Was it that why she was so smart? Because she had been trained since the day she had come in . . . ?

A memory came to mind and Inuyasha saw his fifteen-year-old self, training inside the gym. He had heard rumors about a big new project and how the agency was looking for the best candidate. Inuyasha had trained harder than everyone else those few months leading up to the announcement. He wanted to prove himself to everyone who had ever doubted him in the past. He wanted to make his parents proud and have people admire him.

Oh, but how angry he had been to find out that he hadn't been chosen. Instead, someone totally new was chosen to do it. Inuyasha never resented or hated another person more, even if he had never met that person. The simple reason was that they had been chosen over him. He was more upset when he saw her, because he knew that it was the girl they were letting tour the building. He had been beat by a girl! For crying out loud, his manhood was in question.

He wanted her to be ugly, to be nasty and mean, but he was only breathless when he saw her look at him through the glass while trained. Her beautiful blue-gray eyes and her porcelain skin had left him breathless and he hated her even more for that.

Inuyasha guessed that he had told her she was ugly, because her beauty bothered him. He thought that she was a push-over but when he insulted him full force, he made it his life-long ambition to make her life as impossible as his.

"Inuyasha, hello, you there?"

The hanyou jumped when he heard Sango's voice. It seemed like she hadn't finished telling her story. Inuyasha this time paid closer attention to Sango's words.

"When the chip was stolen, we knew that whoever had didn't have all the information they needed, because they hadn't bothered to grab Kagome. Sending her to deprogram the chip and then destroy yet was our last option. We figured that she needed a body-guard, and who else but you?"

"Yeah, I suck." Inuyasha sighed. He was going to be in trouble if he ever walked back into head-quarters without Kagome beside him. He felt that he wanted her to be by his side, which was weird to think about. He shook his head.

"Anything else?"

Sango shook her head. "No, not really."

Inuyasha nodded, looking at the papers he had been able to take. "Then listen to my new plan and we'll be able to find Kagome and destroy the chip in no time."

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Kagome woke up groggy on a cold, hard floor and sat up. She felt her hands tied behind her back and remembered what had happened before she blacked out. She tried looking around, but the cell she was being held at was dark, dark enough that even here her eyes could not adjust. She tried moving around, but her feet and knees were bound. Kagome sighed. They sure were thorough with tying up the prisoners around here. But why did they want her in the first place? Surely, didn't know about her involvement with the chip.

Just as her mind was contemplating the motives of her kidnapping, the door opened and Naraku himself walked in. He stood in front of Kagome, hand in his pockets as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Are you ready to talk?"

Kagome pretended to play dumb. "Talk about what?"

"You know what I'm talking about." Naraku glared. "I know that you know how to program the Shikon chip."

"I have no idea of what you're talking about."

"Silence!" Naraku yelled. "You think you're so smart, but all you're good for is nothing. You're the top spy of your agency and you get caught? I guess the S.S is getting soft on you guys!"

Kagome glared, but made no more move to talk or to gesture about anything. Naraku huffed with anger and grabbed Kagome from her hair and pulled her up.

"If you don't want to die, then you better do as I say!"

Kagome spat on him. "Over my dead body."

Naraku smiled devilishly. "We can arrange that."

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**A/N: Oh yeah! The story is getting juicier! Now we finally know why Kagome and Inuyasha hated each other! I'm glad I got to update this story before my five-day trip so please surprise me with a lovely bouquet of reveiws!**

** ~Daichi**


	10. Rescue Plans

**Disclaimer: Don't own it so don't sue me please!**

**Chapter 10: Rescue plans**

The plan was fairly simple, considering the creator of it. Inuyasha hung out by himself at the hotel Kagome and he had checked into and waited for the signal Miroku would give him. He remembered the conversation.

_"You have a plan?" a surprised Miroku asked. Inuyasha ignored the surprise on his face and continued._

_ "Yeah I do." He said, holding up the papers to let Sango and Miroku see. "This is where the chip is a the moment. It's most likely that he took Kagome there, if he wants to program the chip."_

_ Sango raised an eyebrow. "Where is it?"_

_ Inuyasha sighed. "Far. Hours from here, in the steeper part of the countryside. It's supposed to be some kind of manor."_

_ "Give me the directions and I'll plan a path for you to take. I'll also see what else we can help you with, but I better warn you, you'll need to learn to use Kagome's equipment if you want to infiltrate correctly; that's why this needed to be a two-person mission."_

_ Inuyasha hung his head and just nodded. _

That's when Miroku cut off the transmission and Inuyasha returned to the hotel. It was late because he had spent most of the night trying to learn the mechanics of Kagome's equipment and he had made some progress, but the majority of her gadgets were decipherable to him. He shrugged to himself. He would just have to use the ones that worked best with him.

Trying to sleep was hard. No matter what, he felt that something was missing. He would glance at the bed beside him, and know that in his heart, he missed Kagome so much. She was such a talker that the silence disturbed him; she was so bright and happy that the darkness unsettled him. His chest ached like never before and he wanted it to end. He didn't understand.

Sure, Kagome was attractive, but was he in love with her? As in, real love? Is that why he couldn't stand the thought of her being near Kouga? Is that why he missed her so much and was determined to get her back? He felt as if the answers evaded him and they wouldn't clear up until he saw her again. He wanted to see her. He _needed_ to see her.

He was so scared he wouldn't find her alive. He prayed to any god, that she would be okay. If something ever happened to her . . . he would never forgive himself. Scratch that, he would jump off the tallest building he could find, just to be with her again.

Deciding that sleep was the best option for his now splitting head-ache, he closed his eyes, and quicker than he had hoped for, he was sound asleep.

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Kagome groaned as she turned to the side, her wrists aching and chaffed from the ropes that still bound her. Naraku had been true to his word; every part of her was aching, and in some areas, bleeding. A small gash decorated her forehead, a few already-healing scratches on her arms and many more smaller cuts that had been used for torture lined her lower legs.

Blood wasn't the end of it though. Force was as much of a contributor in this as much as a knife had been. Kagome had been thrown to every which way in the cold, dark cell. Her head hurt from all of the times it had come in contact with the walls of the small room; she was sure she had numerous concussions there. She also had bruises from places she had been punched of grabbed with force.

Kagome hissed in pain as she tried to sit up. Even with all the pain, she still refused to help Naraku. Now that she was being held captive, she had nothing else to fall back on. At least like this, she could stay alive a lot longer than if she just gave him the information. She was sure he would go back on the promise about setting her free if she helped; she snorted. When did the bad guy ever leave anyone alive? She _wasn't_ that naïve.

Her eyelids were heavy but sleep evaded her. When she wasn't being tortured, she would distract herself with images of Inuyasha. She missed him terribly, even his snide comments about her intelligence. She found that she missed their usual banters and it made her smile at the thought of them.

She wondered what he was thinking, what he was doing. She wondered if he even cared to save her. He probably knew her secret already—she had planned to tell him when the chip was back in their hands, but now that she was kidnapped, Sango had probably spilled the beans. The truth about the chip was dealt and she wondered whether Inuyasha hated her now.

But was it like it was before? Kagome had never wanted to remember, but in fact, she knew exactly why they had started to fight. She had suppressed it, almost to the point that it felt like a dream, but now it was as vivid as if it had just happened the day before. Her memory was far to good to forget it completely.

_She was new around these parts and it certainly didn't help calm down her fears as she walked into the S.S head quarters. Who knew that the secret spies actually existed? Kagome had always been fascinated by the subject, but she was blown away that it was true. _

_ Fifteen-year-old Kagome stared at the ominous building. She knew she was being recruited for a very special project and she hoped that the people here would treat her nicely. She was smart, yes, but back in her old life, it wasn't something that helped you gain friends. She had always been isolated and being the smartest had its downsides, but now, she thanked the gods that had endowed her with so much knowledge. The opportunity to work as a spy was her greatest dream come true._

_ She was greeted at the gate by the people who were to become her mentors. She followed them, letting them guide her on a tour of the facility. She was genuinely impressed by most of the equipment she saw and the other spies there too. They were all so good, Kagome felt her stomach twist into knots about having to be better than them. She stopped herself and mentally scolded herself. She needed to stop comparing herself to others, or else she would never be able to be happy with herself._

_ That's when she saw him._

_He looked beautiful; even the mentors stood back to admire the handy-work of this one trainee. Kagome peered into the window and saw that it was an indoor training center. Her ears caught some of her mentor's conversation._

_ "Wow, Inuyasha's been working really hard hasn't he?" The man with silver-hair commented. Now that Kagome got a good glance at him, he looked a lot like the boy inside training._

_ "Yes, he seems to be determined to be placed for something." The woman with black hair commented. _

_ "Wish his brother was this interested in espionage." The man muttered this under his breath and the woman only glared slightly at him._

_ "Inutaisho, you must respect your son's wishes."_

_My ears perked. Were the boy and my mentor related?_

_ The man shrugged and walked away, the woman looking hesitantly at the silver-haired boy, but followed the man. Kagome lagged behind, just to watch the guy train. He was handsome, that went without saying, but he was also strong. Very strong. She was about to turn away when her mentor called for her. She glanced at the boy again and found him staring at her, eyes full of hatred. His glare elicited fear in Kagome;what had she ever done to him?_

_ "Hurry, Kagome." Her female mentor called._

_ She hurried away, but not before glancing at the boy again. This time, while his eyes were still hard, there was something there, but she had no time too decipher it._

_ It was only days letter that she met the arrogant, rude and positively barbaric silver-haired boy named Inuyasha. He called her ugly and a know-it-all; she called him stupid and brash. The list went on and on. _

They never got over their first encounter. Kagome knew they were wrong for holding a grudge towards each other. If she came out of this alive, she would apologize for all the names she called Inuyasha which, needless to say, weren't all that pleasant. But then, what? What would they be like towards each other after their pretense of arguing was gone? Kagome knew it would only get complicated and she knew why; they started to have feelings for each other. She wasn't dense, even though some people might have you think so just because she was smart.

It had taken her to be kidnapped, brutally beaten and exhausted to understand the pain in her chest that wasn't related to the wounds inflicted upon her. She physically ached for Inuyasha and it was then she realized she had more than friendly feelings for him; actually, this could have started since the first day they met. Maybe it was the arguments that had hindered for the love to grow and now that they were partners it was like they were forced to realize their feelings.

The only thing Kagome lamented was the fact that she had only figured it out now, when there was almost no chance of her getting out. The knots on the ropes binding her were tight and she couldn't see if there were any nails around, but she doubted it. The ground was stone, not wood.

Kagome moved back into her corner and hid her face when the door opened, but thankfully only a meager meal of bread crusts and water were shoved through it. She silently wondered who was working the door since she knew Naraku did not stand the sight of her to guard her all day.

A plan began to formulate as she gazed at the food in front of her. It was out of her comfort zone; it was risky, but since when did she let that take the fight out of her? She needed to get back to Inuyasha, to fix things between them and to destroy the chip.

She gripped the plate and set it aside. She would wait for the right time to eat the bread crusts and hoped her plan would work.

It had to.

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"Inuyasha!"

The groggy, alarmed half-demon fell out of his bed and fell onto the floor with a thud. Lifting himself quickly to a sitting position, although half asleep, he glanced up and blinked a few times before his eyes focused.

"Miroku?" He asked incredulous, looking at his best friend.

Miroku, who was dressed in the usual espionage get-up, pulled extended his hand to his disoriented friend. "Need a hand?"

Inuyasha graciously accepted the hand, pulling himself up with it. "Why are you here?"

"To get Kagome, of course." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The half-demon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but why?"

Miroku sighed and scratched his head. "Sango refused to stay put and since we can't go by ourselves on important missions, I had to tag along."

Inuyasha clamped a hand to Miroku's shoulder. "You're being whipped, man."

"I know." Miroku sighed. "But . . . I love her."

Inuyasha shrugged. "Your call, not mine. But hey," He eyed Miroku, "If that's the case, then tell her. If you don't she mind end up . . . like Kagome." Inuyasha lowered his voice at the mention of his missing partner. Miroku wanted to console him, but just as he was thinking of something to say, Sango barged in.

"Get moving, boys!" She yelled, grabbing both agents from the collars. "The longer we wait, the less time we have to save Kagome."

Miroku spluttered. "W-we still have to wait, Sango! At least a day."

"What?" Sango let go of Inuyasha, who fell onto the floor in surprise as she held Miroku close enough that if he leaned in, he could kiss her. Sango, though, had other things on her mind. "Why can't we go?"

"Because I have yet to fix the car that Naraku's men deprogrammed."

Sango let him go in a huff and ran a hand through her loose hair. "Damn it, we can't afford an extra day! Kagome might . . ." Her face broke into a pained expression and she left her sentence hanging in the air, the absence of the words she was going to say powerful in silence.

Inuyasha didn't like the silence and he could feel the guilt creep and grip hard onto his heart. He needed something to distract himself, all of them.

"Let's go work on that car, Miroku." He said, not glancing at either of them as he walked out the room and into the hall.

Sango sighed. "Fine. Just hurry up."

Miroku's hand found Sango's and he gave it a gentle squeeze. Sango, surprised at the gesture, blushed and let go quickly, looking away. Miroku only smiled and followed Inuyasha's path out the door.

Sango went to sit down on the bed, feeling it sink under her weight. She let her head fall into her hands in a mixture of exhaustion and desperation. She wished so much that she could go get Kagome _right now._ She felt helpless, which was why she had dragged Miroku with her all the way here. It was the first time they had been involved in a mission physically and the stress was almost too much for Sango's nerves.

And what was Miroku doing? Sango was well-aware of his feelings for her and she believed she felt the same way, but she was scared. Any time, any place, something could happen and someone could die. It was a common occurrence in her profession. She was scared . . . just like she was scared for Kagome.

_If she were only here . . . she could probably tell me what to do. She always knows what to say._ Sango thought bitterly. Kagome could be dead in a second, an hour or a day. They didn't know and that's why it was so important for them to get there as soon as possible.

She decided that wallowing in her worries weren't going to get her to Kagome faster and walked out to help Inuyasha and Miroku fix the car. Who knows what Miroku could mess up if she wasn't there to help?

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**A/N: Alright here you go! That's chapter ten for you. The story is almost finished so expect one, two chapters left? Still haven't decided yet. I hope you review and tell me whether the chapter was to your liking! **

**~Daichilover**


	11. Not on my life

** A/N: Here I am you guys! I decided to write one more chapter after this, which _might_ include an epilogue. Emphasis on the might. But aren't you glad that I updated?**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha or anyone else.**

**Chapter 11: Not on my life**

Fixing the car that had been deprogrammed had taken the whole day. The group debated whether they should hit the road afterward and both Sango and Inuyasha agreed. It was dark as Inuyasha drove down the lonely roads towards where they heading. He couldn't stop thinking about how close Kagome was becoming with each foot crossed. He glanced in the mirror and saw that Sango was fast asleep on Miroku's shoulder in the backseat. Miroku was asleep as well and his head was tilted towards Sango's.

He sighed. He envied them, because they had each other. He glanced at the empty seat next to him, feeling the same way he had when he had glanced at the empty bed. He had never noticed how much Kagome made up his life; it was scary to think she might never call him any names or bother him about how stupid he was.

His mind wandered and he suddenly thought about how they would be like when Kagome was back. Inuyasha could never see her the same way as before; everything had changed. He was resolved to tell her how he felt but he was afraid that she wouldn't feel that way. He had never given her any reason to fall in love with him. On the contrary, he had given her every reason _not_ to.

Inuyasha fixed his eyes on the road and the darkness that only the headlights could penetrate. It didn't matter how Kagome felt at the moment. All that mattered was that Inuyasha needed her back, whether as a friend or a lover, and that his feelings for her would never change. Just to see her smiling face would be enough for him.

He stepped on the gas pedal, determined to find the girl he loved alive.

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Kagome cracked open her eyes when she realized how dark it was. She sighed as she sat up from the hard floor. Her arms ached even more now, since somehow she had fallen asleep in a bad position. She was surprised that she had fallen asleep and she mentally reprieved herself; anything could have happened to her while she had been in dreamland.

It still wasn't time for her plan, but the time was getting close. Kagome couldn't tell what time of day it was but she knew that every few hours a tray of food was given to her. She glanced at the two trays that sat waiting for her. Again, her stomach wrenched for the want of food and her mouth went dry just as she looked at the water. She gulped and kept cheering for herself in her mind so that she could get out.

She hadn't found an alternative yet, so she had to go with the plan she had. Kagome glanced around the room, her eyes already adjusted to the darkness of it. Nothing usable was in sight and she sighed. She desperately wanted to get out, to see the light, to feel the sun's warm rays hit her skin. Most of all, she wanted to see Inuyasha again.

She backed herself into a corner like she had done the whole time she as down here. She wondered how many days passed but she couldn't tell anymore. All the concussions on her head made it hard to think clearly and remember if it had been only a couple of hours, or days since she had been taken. She thought of the present and of her plan so that she wouldn't get disoriented.

Her first objective was to escape this cell. Once she did that, she needed to find the chip and deprogram it. She had thought about destroying it, but then she remembered that she had made it of the strongest material they had at the S.S; it was practically impossible to break it. After that, she would escape the manor and find Inuyasha and apologize to him, that is, if she even wanted to see her again.

Kagome desperately wished to see Inuyasha one last time.

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"Are we there yet?" Sango asked in a whiny voice.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and said, for the umpteenth time, "No, we're not."

"Then step on it!" Sango, like a little kid, kicked the back of his seat. Inuyasha gripped the steering wheel in effort to not tell Sango how stupid she was being. One glance at Miroku through the mirror was enough.

"Sango, dear," He grabbed her hand to get her attention. "You should refrain from acting like a child; professionalism is key on missions like these."

Sango yanked her hand away and crossed her arms, pouting. "I know, but I can't wait! Kagome could be in danger as we speak and it's all Inu—"

"Sango!" Miroku's stern voice cut off Sango's statement. Inuyasha was shaking in the front seat. Out of anger, he stepped on the gas pedal and changed lanes on the road. A lot of cars honked at him, but he didn't care. He pulled off the side of the road where a small lake could be seen. He got out and shut the door hard, hard enough to scare the two passengers in the backseat.

Miroku sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Sango, that was pushing it."

Sango, finally realizing her mistake, mimicked Miroku's sigh. "Damn." She said. "I wasn't thinking."

"I know you want Kagome back," Miroku grabbed her hand. "But who do you think wants her back more than the both of us?"

Sango turned away, embarrassed at how childish she had been acting. "Yeah, I know." She conceded. "But what can I say now?"

Miroku shrugged. "You could always apologize."

Sango groaned and opened her door. "Fine."

Inuyasha threw pieces of rock into the lake, the loud plunking sound being the only thing he could concentrate on. He was pissed, beyond pissed. He already knew that it was his fault that Kagome wasn't with him, but Sango didn't have to say it the way she did. She had already told him off about it. How much worse could she make Inuyasha feel?

He turned around when he heard the car door open and footsteps come near. "What now?" he asked as Sango stopped in front of him. "Come to make me feel more like an asshole?"

Sango looked down and rubbed her arm in embarrassment. She glanced up and said, "I'm sorry."

Inuyasha sighed and turned away. "Whatever."

"Hey," Sango yelled, a little miffed that her apology had been brushed aside. "I apologized! At least say something."

"Something."

Sango turned away, angry. "Fine then! Miroku and I will leave you behind."

Inuyasha yelled back. "If you leave without me, both of you will regret it."

"Oh yeah? You think I'm scared?" Sango yelled. "At least I have the balls to move my ass and get Kagome back. Don't you care about her at all?"

"Of course I do!" Inuyasha yelled, getting mad at Sango again and wondering why she had referred male genitals to herself. "Don't you think that the idea that she might not be here hasn't plagued me?"

"Then why do you keep sulking around here for? Just because I slipped, does that really mean you have free reign to act like a baby? That's rich!"

Inuyasha shook his head. "You don't know what it's like."

Sango crossed her arms. "And why's that?"

"Because I love her, okay?" Inuyasha shouted, the truth finally out. "Ever since she's been gone it's like someone wrenched my heart from my chest!" His shouts seems to get louder. "It's not easy to know that it's your fault that the person who is most dear to you is in danger of losing their life!"

Sango was silent for a moment. When she spoke, her voice was low but firm. "Then get back in that car and don't look back."

Inuyasha couldn't say anything to that. Instead, he walked past her and made it to the car. Sango followed after him and gave Miroku a wink.

"Let's go kick some butt!" Sango yelled from the backseat. Inuyasha only shook his head and rolled his eyes.

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It was time. Kagome glanced at the two trays of food. It was hard to eat without her hands, but hunger could make you do anything. She ate the bread and drank the water, her stomach pleased, but she knew that wouldn't last long. She glanced out through the bars of the the door at the guard who was there, wondering if he would even care when she did what she had to do.

Kagome had also been working on the ropes that were tight around her wrists. She had been able to loosen them somewhat, so her wrist were slowly feeling the sting of the blood flowing through her hands again. The prickly, painful feeling didn't help Kagome's nerves.

She pulled the ropes again and was delighted to find that one of them tore. She quickly pulled one of her hand free. She glanced at the door, seeing the shadow of the guard that was supposed to make sure she didn't anything stupid, like she was about to do now. Her only way out was through that door and the only reason someone would come to check her was to either let her go to the restroom (heavily monitored, of course)or, if that person was Naraku, beat her until he had his fill. Kagome took a deep breath and prepared herself mentally. She promised herself she would never do this again if she got out alive.

Kagome closed her eyes and shoved a finger down her throat.

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Inuyasha sat up from the reclined front seat of the car suddenly, a chill running down his spine. They had stopped for the night, just to get some hours of sleep, but Inuyasha had only just dozed off. He wondered why he had been startled all of sudden. Having a bad feeling, he turned on the car. He had gotten, maybe two hours of sleep? It didn't matter to him, since he didn't need a lot of sleep anyway. He started up the car, thanking the genius who was Sango that the car's purr was as quiet as a mouse.

Accelerating quickly, he glanced outside. The moon was low, as if it was only about to turn in and let the sun come out. Inuyasha glanced at the map given to him by Miroku and realized that they had only 10 miles to cover before they reached the place they needed to get to.

"Inuyasha?"

The half-demon glanced in the rear-view mirror, noticing the sleepy look on Miroku. "Yes?"

Miroku rubbed his eyes. "Are you okay? I mean, after what happened with Sango?"

"Yeah, yeah, everything's peachy." Inuyasha sighed. "We have ten more miles to go."

His friend smiled. "Great. Now the real fun will begin."

Inuyasha glanced at the road and caught a glimpse of the manor that held the villain Naraku and the captured Kagome over the rolling hills of the country they had entered just earlier that morning. He stepped on the gas pedal, going way over the speed limit.

They parked in some remote part of the country, far enough that no one would be able to spot the car. Inuyasha knew they only had about two hours to get Kagome out of there with the darkness to protect them. Miroku roused Sango from her sleep, explained the situation and started getting ready.

Soon, clad in black body suits and masks, they stealthily made their way to a window that belonged to the manor, nearly colliding with the guards doing their usual rounds.

"What do we do?" Miroku asked, when Inuyasha had pulled them behind a bush after a near discovery of them.

"We need to take those guys out," Inuyasha whispered, taking some little bottle out and pulling the little pin with his teeth. "This will knock them out for sure."

He threw the little bottle over the bush, near the guards. They came to investigate, but once they got a whiff of the air surrounding the bottle, both fell unconscious on the grass, sprawled in awkward positions.

"What _is_ that?" Sango asked, eying the guards carefully as she stepped over them. She realized, by the marks on their faces, that they were demons from the wolf clan.

Inuyasha didn't breathe as he passed the bottle. "It's a knock out gas that only affects demons. Humans will only smell the stink, but demons and half-demons can feel the effects of the gas more prominently."

Sango nodded, wrinkling at the smell Inuyasha was referring to as they passed the open bottle. Glancing up at the window, she put a hand on each of her companion's shoulder and said, "Boost me up, boys."

Miroku and Inuyasha promptly lifted her up enough so that she could take a small red laser from her small pouch of gadgets. Aiming at the sealant that kept the windows shut tight, she burned it right off. She pushed up the window, pulled herself through and took a glance around the room. She signaled to Inuyasha and Miroku that all was clear. Miroku was the first through the window, and Inuyasha easily jumped through.

"I could have done it," Inuyasha whispered to Sango. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right. Who's the one who carries the only portable laser that looks like lipstick?"

Inuyasha glared at Miroku as he chuckled. Shaking his head, he led the small group down the hall. The coast was clear so they stopped for a moment and took out the map of the manor. Inuyasha sighed almost in relief as he found the exact spot Kagome would be in.

He only had a little more to go to be reunited with the person he couldn't live without.

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Kagome did _not_ feel well. Scratch that, she felt disgusted. The taste in her mouth made her want to hurl again, but she refrained herself from doing so. The guard had heard the retching sounds and had rushed over. He groaned loudly when he saw the vomit and Kagome panting heavily.

"What the hell?" he yelled, throwing the bar door open. "This is great!" The keys jingled on his belt as he neared and grabbed Kagome by the hair. "Who the hell do you think has to clean this rubbish up?" He yelled. Kagome, taking advantage of the couple of seconds he spoke, remembered a move that she had seen Inuyasha use once. She couldn't exactly use it the same way, but a quick variation could do the trick. She just hoped that it wouldn't hurt for her as much as the guard.

She brought her tied wrist up, hitting the man in the chin and making him shout in pain as he grabbed his face. As he did so, Kagome did a somersault past him, grabbing his keys stealthily and getting up to run out the door. All those physical training hours she had been required to go through had finally come through.

But just as she was about to get out, the guard grabbed her shirt, bringing her back. He turned her to him and the first thing Kagome thought to do was to punch his face. Her fist went flying straight to the guard's nose. She heard a crack and saw that he started bleeding as he fell backwards from the force of her blow. She quickly ran out the cell door, used the key to lock it and ran down the corridor to her freedom.

Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku had all made it down to the main corridor of the manor. Contrary to what they had first thought, the manor was confusing. Hallways came to dead ends at odd places, looped around, and overall made weird patterns. Once you got lost, it was going to take a lot to find your way out.

"Okay, we're lost," Sango admitted, throwing up her hands. No guard had been seen since they had entered so she spoke freely. "This place is too damn confusing."

Inuyasha sighed. She was right. The place was too complex of a building for them. If Kagome had been there, she would have been able to figure out.

His ears perked up at the thought. What would Kagome do if she was there? Inuyasha thought about the time they had made their way through that maze. He hadn't followed her, so he had no idea what to start with, but maybe he could figure it out. If she was here, what would she say to him?

"I wonder . . ." He glanced around at himself, trying to see what he could see in the hall. He focused on the wall, concentrating on it. He sniffed the air and smelt slight traces of unknown scents and their direction seemed to be towards the wall.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing?" Miroku asked as he watched Inuyasha start patting the wall.

"Ah," Inuyasha felt a part of the wall sink and in a second, the wall slid open to reveal the the real interior of the manor.

Sango and Miroku's mouths hung open in obvious astonishment. Inuyasha frowned.

"Why do you guys looks so surprised?"

"How'd you know that there was a false wall?" Sango asked, the tone of incredulity heavily lining it.

"I just noticed that there were other scents that moved towards the wall," he admitted, "So I figured that there had to be something behind it. What do you guys take me as? Stupid?" He laughed at the last part, but Sango and Miroku nodded vigorously. He rolled his eyes and led them into the main corridor. Now here were all the guards. Inuyasha could smell more demon scents around and he knew that they were strong. Stronger than himself? Yeah right.

He moved ahead and motioned from behind him, so that Miroku and Sango could follow. He didn't hear anything behind him, not even the gentle breathing that he would usually hear in the silence. He turned around, finding his partners bound and about three other demons ready to take him on. What he didn't realize though, was that the real threat had just appeared behind him and it wasn't until Inuyasha felt the sting that he realized that he'd been shot with another tranquilizer.

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Kagome cursed her physical condition. She was hurting everywhere, inside and outside. The adrenaline rush that she had experienced back at the cell was gone and now she was seriously crashing down. She was dizzy and she started to slow down because she couldn't run anymore. She stopped and hid herself in a crevice in effort to catch her breath. After a few minutes, she started to run again. She had to find the chip. Now that she was out, she had to follow her second goal; to get the chip and deprogram it.

Kagome passed different rooms, and she checked them all, until she was exhausted again. This time the dizziness was worse and her vision was getting blurry. There was blood trickling down from her unbound wounds. She remembered reading somewhere that if she lost a quart of blood, she would die. First off, she had to take care of herself or else the S.S wouldn't have a top intelligence spy anymore.

Spotting another room, she glanced inside and realized that this room looked like more of a room. She rushed to the bathroom inside and open the cupboards, relieved to find a first aid kit in there. She quickly applied some antibiotic on her scratchings and her slightly bigger wounds. She then took the gauze and wrapped her bigger wounds, like the gash that she had gotten from Naraku on her left leg.

Kagome quickly exited the room, hoping that the slight first aid she had applied to herself would keep her stable for at least an hour. She turned left and kept walking, running at times. Finally, she came to a crossroads of sorts. There were three hallways she could possibly take. Which would lead her to the chip? She glanced around, her eyes searching for any type of evidence that could guide her. Kagome saw something glint in the light on the ground. She moved towards it, bending down to see what it was.

It was a silver hair.

Kagome almost did a double-take. It couldn't be, could it? Could Inuyasha actually be here? She glanced around, but found no other trace of anyone having gone down the same hallway. Standing up, she decided to take that path. If Inuyasha was here, he was most likely looking for the chip, not her. This thought made her sigh. Who could want someone who concealed the most important thing about themselves? She ran down the hallway and opened the door that was at the end.

The door creaked open, and Kagome saw that it was pitch dark inside. Having none of her usual gadgets, she had to dive into the waters without any parameters. She slipped in quietly, hoping that she wasn't going to set off any alarms. It was a foolish wish.

The minute she reached more than a foot inside the room, the lights turned on, blinding her for an instant. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she realized that there was someone standing in the middle of the room, a man she would have loved to throw under a bus.

Naraku.

His cruel smile was as smug as Kagome had ever seen it. It was if he had been waiting here, knowing that she would eventually find her way down the very hall that led to this room. Kagome spotted the chip, the one she hadn't seen in years, in his fingers. She realized that she had been lured here, and that probably Inuyasha was nowhere to be found. What could she do now?

"It took you long enough," Naraku spoke, crossing his arms. "They don't teach spies good anymore." He sighed and acted as if it was a tragedy, but then started to laugh.

Kagome couldn't help but frown at Naraku. She wanted to move but her feet kept her tooted down to the ground. She knew that there was nothing standing in Naraku's way in killing her, except for the fact that she still had the information she wanted.

"I don't think it should matter to you," She bit after a moment of contemplation. "All you are is a evil, ferocious criminal." She glared with a passion, knowing that her words were the only weapon at the moment. "You aren't half of the person than any of the people there."

"Oh please," Naraku smiled and chuckled. "Don't flatter me! It won't help."

"You're not getting anything out of me, Naraku."

"You don't have a choice, girl." He smirked.

"I'd rather die than let the likes of you know anything concerning the chip," Kagome boldly declared, her hands fisting at her sides.

Naraku grinned maliciously, "Oh, on the contrary." He snapped his fingers. "I think I might have something you'd like to get back."

Kagome's eyes widened as a curtain she hadn't noticed before drew back, revealing the person most important to her, bound by chains melted to the floor.

Inuyasha.

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He couldn't see where he was. All he could tell was that the darkness had left and that he was somewhere where it was bright. His eyes adjusted slowly because of the drugs they had put in the stupid tranquilizer that they had injected in him. They had stuck him about five times to make him knock out! He was pissed as hell and was planning to lash out at the first person he saw.

Until he saw Kagome's face.

His heart almost jumped out of his chest when he saw her. She was there, alive. He could smell her somewhat, since the tranquilizers had messed with his senses, but she still had that lovely scent about her. He sniffed the air a little bit more and smelt something that he had never wanted to associate with Kagome's scent.

Blood.

His first instinct was to try to rip away from the chains that kept him bound, but his strength had not yet returned. He heard a laugh rebound the dome-like room and he snarled.

"By the look on your face, my dear Kagome, I would say this half-breed is important to you." Inuyasha heard footsteps and felt his hair get yanked. The bastard was going to die when he was able to stand up again.

"Reprogram the chip or he won't live."

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Kagome choked on air. She couldn't let Inuyasha get hurt, no, she'd rather die. He looked so hurt so worn. She had never seen the strong Inuyasha vulnerable like this. She hated seeing him used this way. How dare Naraku use her feelings for him against her! If there was only a way to not give in . . . but how couldn't she? Inuyasha was in trouble and for once, she wanted to save him.

The idea that came to her made her gulp. She had hoped to reconcile with Inuyasha after this, but if it really meant his life, she would do this. Her feelings didn't matter anyway; he didn't return them right? Kagome hoped that one day Inuyasha could forgive her for everything.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kagome gave Naraku a smirk that even she felt disgusted by it. "Why would I care for someone like him? You are so mistaken, Naraku." I laughed. "It would actually be better if you killed him; then I could take my place as top spy."

Inuyasha's struggle suddenly stopped and he lifted up his head, his eyes locking with Kagome's. She was amazed at the hurt and devastation she saw in them. In that moment, she realized that Inuyasha did in fact return her feelings; she desperately wanted to retract her statement, but she stopped herself. If she loved Inuyasha, she would do anything for him.

Including destroying her own happiness.

Naraku narrowed his eyes, as if he didn't believe Kagome. "So you don't care about him?"

"Not at all."

"Then you won't reprogram the chip."

"Not on my life."

"Fine," He let go of Inuyasha. "If you really feel that way," He held out a knife to Kagome. "Kill him." He then smiled. "If you do, I'll give you the chip."

Kagome's heart almost stopped at the sight of the knife. Did Naraku really want her to prove her pretended hatred towards Inuyasha by killing him? Her eyes sought Inuyasha, but he had his head cast down, as if prepared for the worst. Did he really expect her to do it for the chip? Kagome didn't know and she didn't want to.

_Okay . . . what do I do now?_ She thought. _I know Naraku won't give me the chip but how can I prevent him from using it?_

She would have to die. There was no other way to ensure Inuyasha's life and the one's of the rest of the world. She knew too much. There was no other person on this earth who could possibly help Naraku reprogram the chip if she herself didn't do it. With her just , she posed a threat to the world. Besides, she could never kill Inuyasha. She loved him too much.

The irony of the situation was palpable. A know it all dying because of what she knew. Was there a way she could avoid it? Kagome assessed her situation and couldn't find a better alternative. Kagome couldn't believe how calm she was behaving. Facing death . . . it wasn't a bad as she had once thought. Dying for someone you love was a noble thing to die for; she was glad that was the reason she was kicking bucket for. Sucking up all her courage, she walked to Naraku, head held high and a smile of her face.

_This if for what you're doing to me_, she thought as she grabbed the knife from Naraku. _This is for destroying my chance of living and for trying to take Inuyasha's and the world's. _"You know, I meant what I said before, Naraku."

Naraku cocked an eyebrow. "About you hating Inuyasha?"

"No," I said. "I was talking about the chip's secret. Don't you remember what I said?"

Naraku shook his head, his expression becoming alarmed. "What _did _you say?"

She smiled at her victory. "Not on my life."

Kagome then thrust the knife into her own body.

_In your face, Naraku._

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**A/N: Mwahahaha! I left off on purpose because this is a full seven pages, AND because I want an even number of chapters (talk about OCD) so look out for the next chapter! It may or may not include a small epilogue, depending of what I think is good for the story. **

** Please REVIEW!**

**~Daichi**


	12. Ever after

**A/N: Here goes nothing~ Enjoy the last chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I really don't own Inuyasha, you guys.**

**Chapter 12: Ever after**

Inuyasha heard Kagome's words, knowing exactly what she meant before Naraku could even fathom it. He heard the tearing of flesh, the trickling of blood and the thud of someone falling to the floor. Everything seemed to have gone in slow-motion, as if to torture him. He lifted his head, only to see Kagome, the only person he would have gladly died for, on her knees, in a small, red pool of her own blood that was slowly accumulating. She still gripped the knife that was inserted in her abdomen, her breaths desperate, her head bowed as she dealt with the unimaginable pain.

There was nothing but instinct then, nothing but pure anger. Inuyasha roared, ripping the chains that bound him like paper; his strength had finally returned, but not in time to save the girl he loved. Kagome had given up her life for him, because he hadn't been strong enough to protect _her_. He felt horrible pain, both physically and emotionally. Unconsciously, he knew he was slipping; the anger was boiling over, taking over him. His fangs elongated, his claws grew to a length he had never seen before. He felt the change beginning within him and he was lost to it; nothing mattered in the world anymore.

Naraku had yelled at Kagome, furious himself. In the space of the few seconds it had taken for Inuyasha to break free, he was about to grab her and force her to reveal the secret before she died. But it was all for naught, because when he turned around, an angry beast was ready to rip him to shreds, limb from limb.

Inuyasha had set his sights on Naraku, the cause of all the pain Kagome had to endure before stabbing herself. He still could see the other wounds that had been inflicted on her, some old and some still throbbing with its youth; he instinctively knew that Naraku had done it. He watched as Naraku finally experienced true fear, the fear that crept into your heart, seized it and choked it. He would make him pay, make him suffer just like he had made Kagome suffer. He grabbed Naraku, his fist flying at a speed that no human could hope to see. He threw him against the wall, the thud satisfying Inuyasha's demon. Naraku was knocked out, purple and blue, bleeding from the blows. But it still wasn't enough, no, not what he had done to his Kagome.

"Stop . . . Inuyasha," He heard Kagome pant, her head lifting up to lock with his red-blue eyes. "You're . . . losing yourself."

He turned to her and the reality of the situation caught him off guard. He still needed to save her.

"Kagome,"

The first rational word out his mouth felt like a release; the fangs shortened, his claws returned to their normal size, his eyes turned back into their normal hue and the marks on his face disappeared. Only Kagome could unravel Inuyasha so easily, so quickly, with just a slight plea.

"Good," Kagome somehow was able to give him a smile, despite the horrible pain she felt. When she had realized that Inuyasha was losing himself, she called out to him, for fear the he would lose himself forever. It had worked; he was back to normal again. Still, she had her mission to fulfill. She wasn't dead yet and Naraku was unconscious; she could still completely make sure that the chip wouldn't work if she could deprogram it. "Get the chip and bring it to me."

Inuyasha realized that Naraku must've had the chip. He glanced at the ground and spotted it instinctively, not needing a description to find the chip. He picked it up and all but ran to her.

"Oh god, Kagome." She fell into his arms just as he bent down. "Why would you do this?"

Kagome shook her head, her goal still in mind, and pressed a finger to Inuyasha's lips.

"Shh." She no longer gripped the handle of the knife and instead held out her hand for the chip. Inuyasha's eyes flicked from the chip and her hand but decided to lay it in her palm anyway.

"What are you going to do with it?" He asked, hoping that she still wasn't trying to deprogram that demented chip.

"Doing what I should have done a long time ago," She looked up at Inuyasha. "You don't happen to have a mini-computer do you?" She asked jokingly.

Before Inuyasha could respond, a battle cry was heard from above him. There, in front of them, landed Sango, seemingly wind-blown, but never better. Miroku landed ungracefully next to her, his entrance making it obvious they had fought their way through guards.

"Oh god," Sango quickly assessed the situation. "Kagome!" She ran to her dying friend, cradled in Inuyasha's arms. Miroku trailed behind her, his eyes saddening at his poor friend's situation.

"You guys," Kagome smiled, and Sango couldn't help but feel angry at her for trying to play off her pain. "You're actually working together? On a mission?"

Sango couldn't help but laugh through her tears. "Yeah, you could say that." She sniffled, watching Kagome struggle for breath. "What do we do now, Kagome?" It only seemed fitting for Kagome to call the shots.

"Do any of you guys have a cell-phone or a small computer?" She asked the lot of them. Sango pulled out a small PDA she had with her.

"Will this work?"

Kagome nodded, grabbing the electronic, but just as she did, demon guards seemed to appear around them. They came from the ceilings and all the entrances, blocking their way out. Inuyasha growled, Miroku and Sango standing up.

"Well," Sango cracked her hands. "It seems they want some more butts kicked today. It'll be my record."

Inuyasha glanced around, and realized that Naraku was gone. "Naraku's gone! He must have tipped off his guards in his escape."

Sango whirled around. "We have to protect Kagome, Inuyasha."

"Just long enough to deprogram the chip," Kagome spoke up. "Miroku, I'm going to need your help." Inuyasha's alarmed gaze made Kagome assure him. "Don't worry, Inuyasha. You have to help Sango fight those goons off." Tears were in her eyes. "Please."

"Alright, but when we're done with them, I'm taking you to the hospital."

Kagome just nodded, knowing that it wouldn't happen like he wanted it too. Inuyasha lay her down carefully on the floor, away from the pool of blood. Watching him join Sango, who was a world-class champion in marital arts, she knew he would be alright. Turning to Miroku, she asked, "Can you hack into the system? I could do it, but I'd take longer."

"Of course," Miroku nodded.

Kagome pressed a couple of keys on the PDA. "Here, it's looking for the computer based system Naraku undoubtedly has."

Miroku grabbed the PDA, and began pressing a series of keys that Kagome knew well. She glanced at the two fighters, watched as Sango threw a demon probably twice her size and strength down on the floor, knocking him unconscious. Inuyasha was dealing with three demons at one time, his punches and kicks incapacitating them. She couldn't help but admire him from where she was.

"Got it!" Miroku held out the PDA. "You can use the system now."

"Good," Kagome choked out. The pain was getting worse and things were starting to look hazy. "I can do this." Grabbing the chip, she took off the back part of the PDA, took out the microchip inside and inserted the Shikon chip. The chip could be deprogrammed with the programs on Naraku's network. Kagome started pressing buttons at lightning speed, so fast that Miroku couldn't possibly keep up with her.

Suddenly, something caught her eye. Kagome went back to a previous screen and knew that it had been changed. Kagome quickly hacked into the video system, not needing Miroku's help this time. She zeroed in on the control room, where the main computer was. She saw Naraku, battered, but perfectly capable to type on the keyboard. She quickly recognized his plan, seeing the series of keys on her own screen simultaneously.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, "Naraku is planning the building to self-destruct!"

"What?" yelled Inuyasha, knocking out the last two goons while Sango roped the others into a group. "He's going to blow the place up?"

Kagome looked frantic as she tried to speed up deprogramming the chip. "It'll blow up in six minutes." She glanced at her friends. "You guys have to—" Kagome couldn't finish her sentence. The pain was too much, but now the room was spinning. Her fingers were numb and she realized that the pool of blood had grown twice its original size. It was too much blood gone; she was a goner.

Inuyasha took Kagome in his arms, Miroku and Sango turning away to give them some privacy. He looked so hopeless, so lost that Kagome wished it didn't have to be this way. But she had taken her decision. Her life or his; she wouldn't regret a thing. The PDA made a noise that was supposed to signal that the chip was deprogrammed.

"You never answered my question." Inuyasha said, looking at Kagome tenderly. The building began to tremble, showing that the self-destruct mode had just started to process. Kagome knew they had only a couple of minutes to leave; it was time to let go.

"Because I couldn't see you that way, Inuyasha." She gasped, the pain making her voice weak and soft. She searched his eyes, hoping to find what she needed to stay here, to let him go. "I love you."

Inuyasha couldn't contain himself. The tears spilled and fell on Kagome's face, mingling with her own salty tears. "I love you too, Kagome."

"Then you've got to leave," She smiled. "You'll be happy, I promise."

He shook his head, his voice full of emotion but firm. "Never."

He leaned in, lips pressing to hers, as if to seal his promise. It was sweet, passionate, but short. Kagome's eyes closed, her breathing coming in short gasps. She was so near death, closer than Inuyasha wanted her too. Careful to not move the knife still in her body, he picked her up. He glanced at his friends, who were busy speaking.

"By the looks of things," Miroku glanced around, watching pieces of stone falling. "We have three minutes to escape."

"Damn," Sango said. "How the hell are we supposed to get out?" She glanced at Inuyasha, eyes widening. "Is she . . .?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "She's only unconscious, but she doesn't have much time."

"Come on," Sango began to run in the direction of the only exit not blocked off by rubble. "We have to get out quickly!"

The rest of the gang followed Sango out, hoping to find another way into the corridors. Time was running out; they could feel the vibrations under their feet and Inuyasha was hard pressed to keep avoiding the falling ceiling bits. They came to a fork in their path, two hallways that were unblocked.

"I remember this," Sango yelled, since the rumbling of the manor was getting louder. "We came here to get out the room they locked us in." She ran up to the hallways. "But they both look the same."

Miroku, who felt he hadn't done much to the whole mission, hurried next to Sango. Apart from Kagome, Miroku was the smartest intelligence spy. Of course, they had moved him and Sango up to work for the protection of the chip, but now he was really going to do something for the good of the group. He scanned the area, sizing up his situation. Both tunnels had exits, but which one was the one they wanted? He focused at the light coming from both, seeing one that was just a little bit brighter than the other. Where there was brighter light, there had to be either electricity or a window. Miroku checked his watch. The sun had just risen.

"Go down this way!" Miroku pointed to the hallway to his right. "Hurry,"

Sango and the others could do nothing but trust him at the moment, since behind them, everything was falling down, the pillars, the ceiling, the walls, everything that was capable of falling did. They reached the other side, which came to a dead end. Sango was about to curse Miroku for cornering them to their deaths when he pointed upwards. "A window!"

Sango's heart jumped. "A window?" They still had a chance; they would be able to live. "I'll do the honors," Sango pushed ahead and grabbed the ledge of the window, which was just within her reach. She tried to pull herself up, but she felt a push from under her feet. She glanced down to see Miroku grabbing her feet. She smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem."

Sango was able to stand on the ledge, carefully balancing herself so that she wouldn't fall. Using her laser lipstick once more, she took out the whole window. She nodded to the others, and jumped out. The window was high, but thankfully there was a couple of bushed right under it. Sango fell on them, thanking the gods that it hadn't been constructed for a booby trap.

Inuyasha was next, but he landed gracefully on his feet. Quickly, he handed Kagome off to Sango.

"What're you doing?"

Inuyasha poised for his jump, but no before looking at Sango weirdly. "I'm going to get Miroku."

She watched Inuyasha jump, trying to hold onto to Kagome. Carefully, she laid her down and finally got a good look at her wounds. Talk about being battered. The girl was cut in so many places that Sango was getting angry again. She also had multiple bruises and when Sango felt her head, she could feel knots from where she had been either hit or she had hit something. No wonder she was hanging onto life by a thread. Checking her pulse, she noticed that it was becoming slower. Kagome's hands were cold but she was still sweating bullets.

Inuyasha and Miroku landed beside her. Inuyasha took her place beside Kagome, checking her and she moved towards Miroku.

"Miroku," She smiled. "You did it!" She captured him in a hug. It surprised him, but she felt his arms around her soon enough.

"Yeah, _we _did."

Inuyasha glanced up and said, "We have to go now, or else she'll never make it."

Miroku nodded and let go of Sango abruptly, the reality of the situation hitting them. "We can send a transmission signal from the car and the S.S will send us transportation."

Just as they started their trek on the hills, the Manor exploded. Sango yelped, and all them fell to the ground, covering their heads. Inuyasha covered Kagome with his body as the debris was shot into the air and fell on them like pellets. A smaller, but noticeable explosion, racked the air.

"What was that?" Inuyasha called out.

"The chip!" Miroku shouted. "It's the only thing that would've exploded in there!"

Inuyasha grunted, getting up with Kagome. He'd be damned if they didn't make it in time. The others followed behind as the determined man trekked. Suddenly, he heard the sound of choppers above him. He was about to run when he realized that the choppers were from the S.S; how had they known their location?

"Kagome," Miroku muttered, almost reading Inuyasha's mind. "She must have sent a homing signal before she deprogrammed the chip."

Someone came down with a boat-looking thing, lifting up the spies into the air and pulling them in. Kagome was treated immediately on board, the others taking a backseat for a while. Inuyasha sat there, watching as Kagome's condition was stabilized and she started to breathe normally. He sighed in relief.

They were finally heading home.

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Inuyasha watched as Kagome's chest rose and fell, rose and fell, in a regular pattern that didn't put him in an anxious state. They were in the S.S hospital now, Kagome's heart rate and vitals monitored heavily. They had barely let Inuyasha in but permission from the Five was given. He glanced at all the tubes and IVs that stuck out from her body. The doctor had said that only a miracle had kept her from dying; when she had stabbed herself, she didn't hit any major organs.

It still bothered Inuyasha that Kagome had intentionally hurt herself to save him. He felt wrong and angry that he hadn't been able to prevent it; he would have gladly had Kagome kill him instead. His thoughts returned to those horrific moments.

He was so stupid. How could have believed for a minute that Kagome really hated him? She didn't think of him that way, not anymore, but yet again his own insecurities had made him doubt. Besides, now he knew the extent that Kagome felt for him. She would give her life for him.

Inuyasha lightly touched Kagome's cheek with the back of his hand. What would he say when she woke up? Of course, he would tell how stupid she had been to go and kill herself. He would tell her how much it would've hurt if she had died and how much she meant to him. What else he could say, he didn't know.

Just as he took away his hand, Inuyasha was surprised by Kagome's hand catching it. She opened her eyes slowly and glanced at him.  
"Am I in heaven?"

Inuyasha chuckled, squeezing Kagome's hand. "What makes you say that?"

"You're here."

The statement brought Inuyasha into silence. Kagome really loved him; it was a fact that was staring him in the face as Kagome gazed at him with eyes so full of love, that her tears fell with the overwhelming feelings.

"I thought I had lost you," Inuyasha spoke, kissing the back of Kagome's hand. "I thought that you really hated me."

Kagome's eyes saddened. "I'm so sorry Inuyasha, but I had to make you think I didn't love you so that you wouldn't regret me dying."

"How could you think that?" Inuyasha exclaimed. "I would never wish death on you for any reason." He sighed. "You're too precious."

"Well," Kagome laughed. "I didn't know that until too late."

Inuyasha grabbed both of Kagome's hands. "I'm telling you now." He gulped. "I never want you to leave my side or do anything that could possibly separate us. Promise?"

Kagome smiled, nodding. "Of course, Inuyasha."

Taking his cue, Inuyasha leaned in, lips touching Kagome's for a brief instant. He kissed her again, slowly, savoring every minute he had with her. He placed a hand on her cheek, feeling the heat in her cheeks, hearing the way her heart beat more quickly when he touched her. He pulled away, remembering that Kagome was still hurt and if she moved too much, she might feel more pain.

Kagome opened her eyes slowly after Inuyasha pulled away. There had never been a moment in her life before this mission that she had ever contemplated kissing Inuyasha, but now that seemed the only thing that she wanted to do. She laughed inwardly at the irony. Who could have thought that she would have fallen in love with the man she hated with a passion?

"Inuyasha," Kagome called,

"Yeah?" He answered, ears perked to listen.

She smiled. "Can you promise me something?"

"Whatever you'd like."

She was quite for a minute, trying to word her request. "Promise me," she began, "that you will never forget that I love you."

Inuyasha smiled, nodding. "Never, Kagome."

She smiled, sighing in content. "Good."

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"Man, I feel so nervous." Kagome paced back and forth in the waiting room of the S.S headquarters. It had been a week since she had been out of the hospital and she had been anxious this the whole time.

"Don't," Inuyasha stopped her, and pulling her towards her. "There's nothing to worry about."

Kagome glared at him. "How can I not worry? We were caught, I jeopardized your life, we destroyed the chip when it was only to be retrieved . . ." Kagome paused, sighing. "And we fell in love."

Inuyasha laughed, burying his nose Kagome's hair. "You only worry nowadays. Being smart must make you depressed."

"Inuyasha," Kagome tried to sound stern, but the effect was ruined because she couldn't help but laugh.

He shook his head. "Ok, so I do agree with you that we broke the number one rule on the mission." He then shrugged. "But what can they really do?"

"I guess you're right." Kagome agreed. "The most they could do is make us leave. We can do that." She smiled up at Inuyasha.

"Yup." Came Inuyasha's simple reply.

Before Kagome could go further in her dissection of the mission, Sango opened the door to the room they had been waiting for. She looked a little grim, as if also worried of what might happen.

"Go in," She jerked her head in the direction of the door.

Kagome nodded, determined to walk in with her head held high. Inuyasha grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze and giving her a nod. If they were going to go in, they were going to go in together, hand in hand. Kagome had never been so relieved.

The room was dark as they entered, a bright light on them. It could have been just yesterday that they had been assigned the mission. Kagome chuckled to herself as she remembered how indignant she had been to work with Inuyasha. Before she could continue her reverie, a voice from the Five, who again were masked in the darkness, spoke up.

"Agents Kagome Higurashi and Inuyasha Takahashi," The strong voice boomed. "You were brought here to report on your mission, but we've uncovered a few things about it through other mediums." The voice paused. "Give us your report first."

"Alright," Kagome nodded. "Our mission was to stop Naraku from using the Shikon chip. We trailed him and found him," Kagome paused, but only paused for second. "and I was caught. Sango and Miroku joined up with Inuyasha to find me."

"And why did they have to join you, Inuyasha?" The voice from earlier boomed.

"The car was deprogrammed while they captured Kagome. Miroku and Sango came to fix it and help me in the rescue mission."

"How did you let your partner get caught?"

Inuyasha was embarrassed. "I was shot with tranquilizers, sir."

There was no response from the Five, so Kagome continued to talk. "I was shut in a cell, subjected to beatings and torture, but I managed to escape around the same time Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku had broken into the manor and got caught."

Murmurs of astonishment were heard. "You were able to break into the manor?" A woman asked, in disbelief.

"Well, it wasn't easy." Inuyasha grumbled.

"As I was saying," Kagome spoke up again. "Naraku used Inuyasha as bait so that I would reprogram the chip, but I refused. Instead, I . . ." Kagome sighed. "I attempted to kill myself."

"Why would you do that?" A soft voice came from the Five. "I thought you two hated each other. Why would you do something like that for him?"

Kagome could feel what was coming on. She knew that she would have to say it. "It was because I had fallen in love with him and I didn't want anything to happen to him."

Inuyasha immediately followed, not letting the Five interrupt. "I love her too," He boldly declared.

"Well, that much is apparent." The first voice said, "We can see you're holding hands. Continue, Agent Higurashi."

Kagome nodded. " I don't remember much after that. Except that I was able to deprogram the chip, program it to self-destruct and send a homing signal so that we could be located."

"Impressive." The voice was pleased. He then directed himself to Inuyasha. "Do you remember what happened, Agent Takahashi?"

"Yes sir," he nodded. "Kagome passed out from blood loss and the rest of us tried to get out, but we had to go through the guards before that. Then, we found an exit, got out and fell to the ground when the place exploded. The explosion from the chip was right after that."

"You do remember that we only asked to retrieve the chip, don't you?"

Kagome nodded. "We know, but I couldn't live with the fact that the chip could still be stolen when I had been the one had made it in the first place."

"You also broke the number one rule when it comes to missions." A new voice said. "Never let your emotions get in the way of your objective. Obviously, because of what you two feel for each other, you put yourselves in danger to be used to coerce the other. And it happened."

"You can do whatever you want." Inuyasha spoke. "We don't care what you want to do us, but whatever you want to do, Kagome and I are going to do it together. I love her and you can't change that."

"Actually, we're not going to do anything." The first voice, laughed. "We wanted it to happen from the very start."

Inuyasha's jaw dropped and Kagome's eyes almost popped out. "What?" They yelled simultaneously.

"I think it's time you two knew," They heard shifting of chairs. "Someone get the lights."

The expressions on their faces could not even describe what they were actually thinking. Jaws dropped, they could not believe their eyes. In front of them stood Kagome's mother, her brother, Inuyasha's parents and his older brother Sesshoumaru.

"You guys are the people I have been living in fear of for my whole agent career?" Kagome yelled, freaking out.

"Oh, we're not the real Five. We fill in when the real Five go out to missions, but we delegate the same powers." Kagome's mother smiled and shrugged. "It beats being at home all day."

Inuyasha groaned. "Please don't tell me it was a set up. . ."

Izayoi, Inuyasha's mother, looked at her son sternly. "It was not a set up. You two actually saved the world while doing this mission."

"I'm proud of you, son." Inutaisho laid a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder, pulling him away while Kagome and her mother spoke. "You really showed me how good you are and," he leaned and whispered, "You even got the girl!"

Inuyasha groaned. "Dad . . ."

"Fine, I won't say anything else." Inutaisho smiled and patted his son on the back. He walked away, whispered something to wife and they both left the room. Inuyasha caught sight of his older brother, who hadn't said a word since the lights had been turned the "Five" had been revealed.

"I thought you hated this life," Inuyasha stated, knowing his brother's aversion to being a spy. "How come you were filling in?"

"Father asked me to. Since I could not make him proud like you have," He paused. "I decided to do at least a little bit of what he wanted me to do."

Inuyasha nodded, noting no difference in his Sesshoumaru's voice. "Well, be happy you didn't have to through what I had to to make him proud like that." He turned around, catching Kagome's eye. "I'll see you later."

Sesshoumaru only nodded, and Inuyasha walked to Kagome, grabbing her hand and giving her a smile. "Told you that everything would be alright."

Kagome laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "I guess I was wrong."

"There's a first for everything."

Kagome laughed, almost forgetting that her mother was in front of her. She glanced at her as she spoke.

"Mom, this is Inuyasha." She introduced them formally, even though Kagome knew her mother knew him already.

"Well, it's nice to see that you two are happy." Her mother went straight to the point, leaning in and whispering very seriously "I expect grandchildren soon, you know." She giggled. "I'm not going to be young forever." She smiled sweetly and walked away, leaving the shocked faces of Inuyasha and Kagome behind her.

"Kagome," Inuyasha gulped. "Does your mom really think that we . . .?" He trailed off.

"It's because she knows we really are in love," She turned to him, her expression thoughtful. "You don't like the idea that we might just get married and have children?"

"It's nothing like that!" Inuyasha denied, "I would love that you know," He gathered her in his arms. "I—I just didn't know what to say to our blessing."

Kagome laughed. "You're embarrassed, aren't you?"

Inuyasha, was in fact, red. "N-no!"

"Yes, you are!" Kagome wiggled out of his arms, laughing. "I'm right!"

"I'm not embarrassed!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"I thought by now you two would be cured of this, but I guess not." Sango laughed, appearing at the door with Miroku.

Miroku laughed. "What would you expect, Sango?"

Everyone laughed, including Kagome and Inuyasha. Though things had changed, not a lot would be different. As Kagome and Inuyasha walked outside, probably to spend the day together, their friends and family watched from a distance. They knew they had done the right thing by sending them together.

"You think they'll be alright?" Kagome's mother asked. She watched as fought over who was going to drive.

Izayoi laughed, watching Kagome and Inuyasha bicker once more. "They'll be fine."

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**A/N: The END! I hope you guys enjoyed the story. I'm sorta sad and sorta happy because I've finished another story (yay me) but I finished a good one. Thank you guys for the wonderful reviews I got for this story. Without you, this story couldn't have made it. Since this will be my last update for this story let me just wish everyone happy holidays! Whatever you celebrate, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza or nothing at all, I still hope you have a great time doing whatever it is you do! I truly love you all.**

** ~Daichi.**


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